America’s largest Muslim advocacy group denounces CUNY for calling law student’s speech ‘hateful’

America’s largest Muslim advocacy organization has attacked CUNY, the City University of New York, for turning on its own student.

During her graduation speech in May, CUNY law graduate Fatima Mohammed called the NYPD “fascist” and accused Israelis of “settler colonialism,” leading the university to later charge her with “hate speech.”

Now the Council on American-Islamic Relations in New York, CAIR-NY, has accused the university of being “unfair, cowardly and dangerous” in its decision to condemn Muhammad.

It also undermined the university by claiming it pre-approved the speech and only turned against Mohammed after two weeks of sour backlash from “far-right media” and “Mayor Eric Adams.”

Mohammed also said after her controversial speech that black and brown prisoners are being killed daily in US prisons, and denounced her own university for “participating in global violence.”

Fatima Mohammed is pictured giving a speech in which she called the NYPD “fascist” and accused the Israelis of “settler colonialism”

Shortly after her speech, New York City Mayor Eric Adams condemned Mohammed for her “negativity and division.”

Within two weeks of the graduation ceremony, on May 30, CUNY’s chancellor and board of trustees released a statement condemning Muhammad’s speech as “hate speech” and saying her remarks were “a public expression of hatred towards people and communities based on their religion. race or political opinion’.

CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher wrote in a statement that the group “strongly condemns the City University of New York (CUNY) for engaging in unfair, cowardly and dangerous attacks against their own student leader, Fatima Mohammed, who has been ruthlessly has been harassed by far-right media outlets, Mayor Eric Adams, and multiple members of Congress and City Council.

“As an institution of higher learning, CUNY has a responsibility to protect its students, even in the face of disagreement or inconvenience, and failure to do so is unacceptable.”

“Fatima’s speech has been submitted, researched and pre-approved by CUNY in written form and an oral recording. In addition, the speech was celebrated by the public,” said Nasher.

CUNY student leaders, including the Jewish Law Students Association, have spoken out in her favour. In addition, CUNY’s mischaracterization of Fatima’s speech as “hate speech” is false and defamatory.”

Mohammed’s speech marked the second time in two years that CUNY, which receives more than half of its funding from the government, allowed pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel remarks at the graduation ceremony.

The speaker in 2022 was activist Nerdeen Kiswani, who made similar excited comments.

Afaf Nasher (center) said Mohammed had been subject to bullying by elected officials since her speech at the graduation ceremony

Within two weeks of the graduation ceremony, on May 30, CUNY’s chancellor and board of trustees released a statement condemning Muhammad’s speech as “hate speech.” The law school can be seen in the photo

The speaker in 2022 was activist Nerdeen Kiswani (pictured), who made similar excited comments

Born in Yemen and raised in Queens, Mohammed began her speech by saying she chose CUNY because it was one of the “few legal institutions … to recognize that the law is a manifestation of white supremacy that continues to oppress people and oppression in this country and around the world.”

“I want to celebrate CUNY Law as one of the few if not the only law schools to make a public statement defending the right of its students to organize and speak out against Israeli colonialism,” she said.

She went on to celebrate pro-Palestinian causes championed by the school.

Mohammed continued, “This is the law school that has endorsed and approved BDS [a Palestinian-led movement] at the student and faculty levels, recognizing that without a lens of critical imperialism, settlers, and colonialism, our work and the school’s mission are worthless.

That as Israel continues to indiscriminately rain bullets and bombs on believers, murdering old and young, even attacking funerals and cemeteries, encouraging lynch mobs to attack Palestinian homes and businesses, imprisoning its children, continuing its project of settler colonialism, expelling Palestinians from their homes, carrying the ongoing Nakba that our silence – that our silence is no longer acceptable.

William Thompson (pictured) was appointed Chairman of CUNY’s Board of Trustees by Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2016

Felix V. Matos Rodríguez (pictured) has been CUNY’s eighth chancellor since May 2019

Mohammed (pictured) was born in Yemen and grew up in Queens

But she attacked CUNY in its entirety and labeled the NYPD as fascist.

“We’ve done all this despite the racism, despite the selective activism, the selfish interests of CUNY Central, an institution that continues to fail us, which continues to train and collaborate with the fascist NYPD, the military, which continues to train IDF soldiers to do the same thing. violence worldwide,” she said.

CAIR-NY also noted that Mohammed had been subjected to cyberbullying and harassment from elected officials.

‘Because of [the elected officials’] online targeting her, along with the far-right media, Fatima has received death threats and a deluge of anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and anti-immigrant threats,” the statement said.