‘Harassment’ campaign after US graduate’s speech criticizes Israel

Washington D.C. – It’s not often that republicans and democrats In the United States they find common ground, but this week, officials from both major parties pursued a shared cause: criticizing a New York law school graduate for a speech critical of Israel.

Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres called the CUNY Law School graduate “crazy”; former Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin described the speech as “raging anti-Semitism”; Mayor Eric Adams characterized it as “words of negativity and division.”

Even Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas joined in the piling up of convictions against the Yemeni-American graduate speaker, Fatima Mohammed. CUNY itself called the speech a “public expression of hate towards individuals and communities based on their religion, race, or political affiliation” in a statement attributed to its chancellor.

The tabloid New York Post put Mohammed in its front page on Tuesday.

But many Palestinian rights advocates seemed puzzled by the accusations, stressing that Muhammad did not say anything hateful or intolerant.

Defenders say the smear of Muhammad fits into a larger pattern of publicly attacking critics of Israel in an effort to deter further criticism of the country’s policies.

Adam Shapiro, Israel-Palestine advocacy director at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), a US-based rights group, said pro-Israel organizations and politicians hope such attacks will deter Palestinian solidarity activists to speak.

“But I think it’s actually having the opposite effect. I think this actually encourages more people to speak up,” Shapiro told Al Jazeera.

He highlighted the success of legal and political advocacy in pushing back “smear campaigns” in recent years.

Speech

Mohammed’s speech was delivered to the law school’s graduating class of 2023 earlier this month, but it began making headlines after some media outlets noticed it online last week. From there, he gained exponential national and international attention as more pro-Israel publications and politicians continued to condemn him.

In his 12-minute speech, Mohammed touched on a variety of social justice causes, highlighting student activism.

“I want to celebrate the right of CUNY 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 denounce Israeli settler colonialism,” he said.

The hijab-wearing speaker’s remarks were repeatedly interrupted by applause from her fellow graduates in the audience.

Mohammed went on to say: “Israel continues to rain indiscriminate bullets and bombs in the worshipersmurdering the old, the young, even attacking funerals and cemeteries, as it encourages lynch mobs to attack Palestinian homes and businesses.”

Their accusations appear to be consistent with recent Israeli conduct, including attacks on worshipers inside Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and a police assault on slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. funeral last year.

Earlier this year, an Israeli settler mob also looted the Israeli-occupied West Bank. huwara cityand an Israeli government minister said the Palestinian community should be “annihilated.”

“Ultimately, it was a review of what has been happening in real life on the ground in Palestine,” Shapiro said of the speech.

CUNY did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment seeking clarification about which part of Mohammed’s speech constituted “hate speech.”

This is a very disappointing and dangerous statement from @CUNY . They should defend their students and protect them. All of them. As a proud CUNY alumnus, I hate to see the day when our universities are not a place for diversity of thought and learning. https://t.co/yW0et1VczI

— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) May 30, 2023

Muhammad also referred to other issuesincluding the university’s cooperation with law enforcement, calling the New York Police Department “fascist”.

While the speech was politically charged, Mohammed’s supporters pointed out that CUNY Law’s mission statement explicitly states that the program is geared towards social justice.

“CUNY Law is built on a tradition of radical advocacy: movements for social change are built with the leadership and collaboration of individuals and communities who have experienced injustice,” he says.

Defenders Defend Muhammad

Activists say the campaign against Muhammad is the latest episode in attacks against defenders of Palestine. Palestinian rights advocates in the US often face accusations of anti-Semitism and campaigns to cancel your events and protests.

Professors critical of Israel have they lost their jobs as a result of lobbying campaigns. political candidates for human rights and diplomatic posts in the government have been withdrawn due to past criticism of Israel in recent years.

But this week, as pro-Israel politicians and groups targeted Muhammad, many Arab, Muslim and Palestinian rights advocates came to his defense.

Ahmad Abuznaid, executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USPCR), praised Mohammed’s speech as “impassioned and liberating” against white supremacy, state surveillance and Israeli colonialism.

“Of course, politicians who defend these oppressive institutions are quick to smear her for exposing their violent complicity,” Abuznaid told Al Jazeera in an email.

“We applaud Fatima for her speech of principles and we look forward to following her pursuit of justice and release for all people in their legal career.”

The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) denounced what it called “voice silencing” that seeks to highlight human rights abuses.

“CAIR-NY stands in solidarity with the student commencement speaker who courageously sought to elevate the plight of the Palestinians and the human rights abuses they face. We affirm your right to express your views freely and without interference,” Afaf Nasher, the group’s chief executive, said in a statement.

The New York City chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-occupation group, also praised Mohammed and criticized her critics, accusing them of using Islamophobic tropes to “hit” and smear the young woman.

“We denounce the false characterization of his speech as anti-Semitic simply because it accurately describes the conditions Palestinians live under every day. We couldn’t agree more with her that ‘Palestine can no longer be the exception in our quest for justice,’” the group said.

Mohammed’s defenders were particularly incensed with Congressman Torres, a staunchly pro-Israel Democrat.

“Imagine being so crazed with hatred of Israel as a Jewish state that you make it the subject of your commencement speech at a law school graduation,” Torres wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Anti-Israel Disorder Syndrome at Work.”

Palestinian-American analyst Yousef Munayyer hit Torres.

“The idea that Muslims are irrationally and uncontrollably possessed by hatred of Jews is a racist and Islamophobic trope that you are engaging in. Imagine being as cowardly as a congressman beating up a student for speaking out against Apartheid,” Munayyer said in a tweet. .

The idea that Muslims are irrationally and uncontrollably possessed by Jew-hatred is a racist and Islamophobic trope that you are engaging in. Imagine being as cowardly as a congressman beating up a student for speaking out against Apartheid. https://t.co/ez9AJBr0qf

—Yousef Munayyer (@YousefMunayyer) May 30, 2023

Torres’ office did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

For his part, DAWN’s Shapiro said Torres was going after a young, hijab-wearing Muslim woman who had far less power to bolster her pro-Israel credentials.

“This is a classic case of bullying,” Shapiro said.