FEBRUARY 2020

In light of recent events on campus, and the current political culture of anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic policies and discourse, we reaffirm our support for Students for Justice in Palestine, and all Palestinian, Muslim, and adjacent students, faculty, and workers at the CUNY School of Law. Palestinian students are a central part of our community and we sign this letter to reaffirm our belief that an attack against them is an attack against us all.

In addition to the Islamophobia and racism that Palestinian students face more generally, Palestinian activism on campus has a history of being particularly marginalized and attacked by people who support Israel. A subset of Zionist activists choose to weaponize the genuine threats of anti-Semitism elsewhere in our society as a tactic to repress activism and harass and threaten Palestinian students and Muslim students more broadly. This takes many forms: calling the presence of Palestinian students anti-Jewish, falsely labeling Students for Justice in Palestine as anti-Jewish, and even assuming any critique of Israel is rooted in anti-Jewish sentiment rather than a critique of Israel as a nation-state. We have seen this happening on our campus this year and we reject this misguided invocation of anti-Semitism as a weapon against people fighting for their own survival and right to exist.

This tactic of conflating a critique of Judaism with critiques of Israel as a nation-state is on the rise around the country. Palestinian students have faced similar challenges on CUNY campuses before, and SJP groups have been investigated and cleared of all allegations after asserting their right to organize in 2016. President Trump’s recent Executive Order on Anti-Semitism is so broad that it chills the free speech of people on campuses who are horrified by Israel’s violence against Palestine, people whose scholarship is critical of Israel in any way, and activists working for Palestinian liberation. Anti-Semitism is real and on the rise. However, false claims of anti-Semitism used to suppress pro-Palestinian voices harm both Palestinians and Jews while providing cover for actual anti-Semites. We refuse to allow this close mindedness to come home to our campus, and we refuse to allow the Trump administration to silence Palestinian resistance here or anywhere else.

The Executive Order and events on campus coincide with the Trump administration’s unveiling of a disastrous scheme intended to formalize the ethnic cleansing and ongoing colonization of Palestinian land, known as the “Deal of the Century.” We stand alongside our Palestinian brothers and sisters in rejecting this “deal” and the consequent increased repression of Palestinian organizing, on and off campus.We here at CUNY Law know that our liberation is interdependent and our struggles are lifted up together. The presence and growth of an active fight for Palestinian freedom is a blessing on this campus, not a threat. We refuse to allow it to be weaponized by the forces of oppression around us.

CUNY Law is a public interest law school and one of the most diverse law schools in the country. The diversity of our campus is reflected in our students’ race, genders, religious beliefs, and, most of all, a broad range of strongly held political opinions.  We are not monolithic and we frequently disagree, however, we fundamentally recognize and respect one another’s right to be a part of this community and avail ourselves of a legal education. A line is crossed when students antagonize and harass other students and imperil their sense of safety on campus. This is not what this community is about, and it cannot be tolerated in a law school dedicated to giving a new generation of public interest attorneys the legal tools to fight systemic oppression. The ethos of this institution is “Law in the Service of Human Needs.” Anything less than the full defense and solidarity to Palestinians on campus would leave that ethos as an empty rhetorical slogan rather than a meaningful statement of CUNY’s values.

Undersigned,
Students for Justice in Palestine
Jewish Law Students Association
Muslim Law Students Association
Black Law Students Association
Asian Pacific Law Students Association
Latinx American Law Students Association
Outlaws
National Lawyers Guild
South Asian Law Students Association
Housing Rights Project
Formerly Incarcerated Law Students Advocacy Association
Environmental Justice Coalition
Womxn of Color Collective
Labor Coalition
Phi Alpha Delta
Ball in the Service of Human Needs
Brothers of Color
Racial and Social Justice Orientation
Italian American Legal Association
HALT
Ping Pong Club

Non-CUNY organizations:
City College of New York Students For Justice in Palestine
John Jay Students for Justice in Palestine
Samidoun Palestinian Political Prisoner Network
Within Our Lifetime | United for Palestine
International Action Center
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Al-Awda NY the Palestine Right to Return Coalition


CUNY School of Law Professors & Faculty:
Frank E. Deale, Professor
Allie Robbins, Professor
Sarah Lamdan, Professor
Julia Hernandez, Professor
Victor Goode, Professor
Chaumtoli Huq, Professor
Cynthia Soohoo, Professor
Princess Masilungan, CLEAR Staff Attorney
Saba Ahmed, CLEAR Staff Attorney
Shirley Lung, Professor
Fareed Nassor Hayat, Professor
Steve Zeidman, Professor
Yvette Wilson-Barnes, Associate Dean, Student Affairs
Matthew Main, Law Instructor
Ramzi Kassem, Professor, CLEAR Director
Rebecca Bratspies, Professor
Naz Ahmad, CLEAR Senior Staff Attorney
Donna Lee, Professor
Laura Mott, Director, Academic Skills Center Evening 1L Program
Sofia Yakren, Associate Professor of Law

CUNY School of Law Alumni:
Hoda Mitwally
Ruby-Beth Buitekant
Jackelyn Mariano
Mayha Ghouri
Suzanne Adely
Rafael Varela
Noran Elzarka
Mellissa Smyth
Katherine Azcona
Judith Killen
Maria Amor
Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan
Maggie Ellinger-Locke
Stephan Edel
Bright D Limm 임대중
My Le
Andrea Alajbegovic
Erin Tomlinson
Thomas Power
Mark Maher
Shaina Low
Terri Nilliasca
Mariana Negrón-Quiñones


CUNY School of Law students:
Jenny Akchin
Indigo Owens
Rex Santus
Sadaf Hasan
Nerdeen Mohsen
Claudia Freites
Natasha Bynum
Roxanne Zech
Dan Thaler
Rafael Gilbert
Christian Seno
Daniel Cione
Kathrina Gafycz
Luis Ortis
Anthony Hawkins
Darren Martin
Graner Ghevarghese
Nabila Uddin
Nathan Bickell
Erik Shlein
Ella Nalepka
Michael Maskin
Molly Pearlman
Matthew Amani Glover
Amal Thatbateh
Connor Lie-Spahn
Pete Esser
Maricelly Malave
Miguel Morales
Riley Mayberry
Ethan Chiel
Sacha Maniar
Michelle Eng
Alex Reese
Phoebe Lytle
Genevieve Marcy
Mariana Salguero
Isadora Jaffee
Susie Charlop
Jesse Shackelford
Shannon Haupt
Farzana Ali
Nicole Kronberg
Rebecca Horton
Ethan Grossman
B Taylor
Katie Massey
Mitchell Kaye
Leanna Pohevitz
Tycel Harris
Paige Palladino
Maya Kouassi
Adina Marx-Arpadi
Tyler Sloan
Wanda Ward
Lauren Berke
Michael Gonring
Allison Koch
Elizabeth Gumport
Julienne Hoffman
Iris Gonzalez
Jimmy Taylor
Izzy Durante
Ashley Gonzalez
Amanda Jimenez
Kyla Raskin
Leah Mack
Andrea Parejo
Robert Sweet
Natalie Baker
Krystin Hernandez
Lisa George
Abby Ramos
Zeyna Noor
Daniel Peña
Dannelly Rodriguez
Nowmee Shehab
Lara Russo
Liora Cohen-Fraade
Victoria Morrell
Luke Krsnak
Phoebe Gittelson
Erica Glenn
Gabriel Gutierrez
Gregory Minning
Brian Loughlin
Rachel Goldman
Brian Allen
Ryan Newmyer
Dana Jabri
Jacquieline Zurmuhelen
Kyle Smith
Kimberly Clay
Alberto Aguirre
Shonna Carlson
Sebastian Estrada
Konrad Ratzmann
Jalen Matney
Michael Biornstad
Maria Ferroni
Nikita Patel
Ana Maria Cardenas
Zachory Nowosadzki
Amy Armstrong
Sae Harshberger
Hannah Walsh
Joanna Lopez
Stephen Cheng
Vanessa Fiore
Sophie Whitin
Melissa Sohet
Kenyon Leggett
Nathan Brown
Mollie Meiches
Forrest Sung
Nayeon Kim
Nusrat Mowla
Jennifer Acevedo
Sonia Badji
Uruj Sheikh
Fatima Youssef
Ryan McNamara
Gerald Koch
Abby Schuster
Eden Shlomi
Angelica Razack
David Holton
Anelle Morales-Rojas
Kira Forrester
Shelby Logan
Margaret Lyford
Kristin Maglabe
David Orkin
Simon Peter Tangney
Divya Babbula
Hannah Kohn
Caroline Tarantino
Simone Harstead
Daniela Peña
Kira Forrester
Val R.
Clarissa Gonzalez
Colby Williams
Gillian Minnerly
Anthony Bauth




Outside CUNY School of Law:
Samar Langhorne
Briana Deutsch, Esq.
Elma Kraja
Stephanie Jayne Barone Shannon
Corinna Mullin, CUNY Professor
Charlotte Kates
Michael Galvan
Andrea Parejo
Colleen P Campbell
Nicole Buckley
Maureen E. Ruprecht Fadem
Emilee Sahli
Sara Flounders
Milo Primeaux
Nora Abuhamdeh
Ken Montenegro
Michael Z Letwin
Jonathan Langer
David Letwin
Lamis Deek, Attorney
Melanie Dulfo
Fadwya Yousef
Scott Matney
Sarah Schulman, Distinguished Professor College of Staten Island