NYU Law School Bar Association’s ousted non-binary president Ryna Workman doubles down on anti-Israel comments and now calls for national walk out this week
- Ryna Workman shocked the school and Jewish students with their comments
- Now the law student is doubling down and demanding a student strike
An NYU law student who was ousted as president of the bar over their anti-Israel comments is doubling down on his position, calling for a nationwide university walkout this week.
Ryna Workman — who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns — was stripped of the title after calling Hamas’ attack on Israel “necessary” in a letter to students earlier this month.
In a statement last week, Ryna said they never “intended” to be insensitive to the plight of Israelis, 1,400 of whom were killed by Hamas.
Ryna Workman was ousted as president of the NYU Bar earlier this month after calling Hamas’ attack on Israel “necessary” to liberate Palestine. Now Ryna is doubling down
This is the letter Ryna sent to classmates earlier this month that outraged Jewish students and activists
“I have received many responses to the message I sent to my fellow law students at NYU expressing my support for the human rights of the Palestinians.
“My message came across as insensitive to the suffering of Israelis in times of crisis and that is not my intention.
“When I step back to think about the situation, I cannot reconcile the fact that some of the loudest calls for recognition of Israeli pain ignore the loss of Palestinian children in Gaza.
“And I fear that the far-right Israeli government is using this pain to justify their campaign of ethnic cleansing,” they said.
Workman also posted a “Queers for a Liberated Palestine” event on Monday evening
Workman and other students demand NYU ‘dissociate’ from ‘the genocidal siege of Palestine’
Ryna posted a link to the statement on Instagram, along with the caption, “I will not be silent!”
Now they are joining calls for a nationwide strike by NYU students to “call for an end to the US-backed siege of Gaza and US military funding and weapons to Israel.”
“Our institutions are investing in the genocidal siege of Palestine. Their money, words and programs enable Israel’s occupation and violence.
“They are trying to silence us because we should be afraid, confused and divided. But we, as a united movement for Palestinian liberation, choose to disagree.
“We have the power and obligation to force our institutions to end support for the Israeli occupation,” Ryna said in their post.
Workman criticized NYU for stripping them of the title of president of the bar
Ryna and the other protests demand that NYU “disengage from the Israeli occupation and genocide of the Palestinian people.”
The school has not yet responded to the planned strike this week.
Earlier this month, in response to Ryna’s original statement, a spokesperson said: “The Student Bar Association President’s statement in no way reflects the position of NYU, which condemns the terrorist attack on Israel. Acts of terrorism are immoral.
“The indiscriminate killing of civilians and taking hostages, including children and the elderly, is reprehensible.
‘Blaming victims of terrorism for their own deaths is wrong.’
The non-binary student is now in danger of being removed from her position as SBA – as the group revealed that ‘several students’ have received ‘death threats’ as a result of Workman’s piece. (Photo: NYU Student Services Building)