A Left-wing New York university, bankrolled by taxpayers to the tune of $5 billion, is facing calls to be defunded after one graduate branded the establishment of Israel ‘a catastrophe.’
Fatima Mohammed made a series of incendiary remarks at the annual commencement ceremony of City University of New York Law School on May 12.
The Students for Justice in Palestine activist blasted Israel over its ‘settler colonialism’ and ‘indiscriminate’ murder in a video of the address that emerged online last week.
Mohammed claimed the Israeli government was encouraging ‘lynch mobs’ and praised resistance to ‘Zionism around the world’.
She also accused the Jewish state of ‘carrying on the ongoing Nakba’ – an Arabic term used to describe Israel’s founding that means catastrophe.
‘Our morality will not be purchased by investors,’ the Israel-bashing graduate said, echoing an ancient anti-Semitic trope that links Jews with the world of finance.
During the 13-minute rant, Mohammed spoke out against the perceived injustice of the ‘Palestinian political prisoners like HLF in U.S. prisons.’
HLF, or the Holy Land Foundation, was a Texas-based charity that ‘existed to support Hamas,’ according to the Department of Justice.
The future attorney also made the bizarre claim that U.S. law ‘is a manifestation of White supremacy that continues to oppress and suppress people in this nation and around the world.’
She also claimed the U.S. military and the New York City Police Department were ‘fascist.’
‘May we rejoice in the corners of our New York City bedroom apartments and dining tables, may it be fuel for the fight against capitalism, racism, imperialism, and Zionism around the world,’ the hard-Left campaigner said.
The idea of a homeland for the Jewish people is deeply rooted in Jewish history, religion, and culture.
She told audience members at the ceremony that she is ‘from the rich soil of Yemen, raised by the humble streets of Queens.’
Mohammed has been at the forefront of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement as well as several other anti-Israel initiatives on campus.
In a tacit admission of the speech’s shocking content, CUNY Law initially pulled the video, before releasing it once more last Thursday.
It is the latest anti-Semitism row to engulf the Big Apple’s left-leaning college after coming under fire last year for passing a motion backing the boycott of Israel.
The state’s human rights division opened an investigation in February to assess whether Jews had been discriminated against as a result.
And the Israel-obsessed law school also featured a Palestinian activist last year at a commencement speech that lambasted the Middle Eastern nation over alleged human rights abuses.
CUNY is to set receive a lavish handout from taxpayers to the tune of $5.7 billion next year, according to state authorities, which includes some federal funding.
Lee Zeldin, a 43-year-old former Republican Congressman from New York, said ‘until the administration is overhauled and all Jewish students and faculty are welcome again, taxpayer funding must be immediately halted.’
He added: ‘Raging antisemitism has fully consumed the City University of New York.’
Zeldin said the City University of New York should be defunded after the 13-minute tirade by Fatima Mohammed
Protesters marched through New York earlier this month to demonstrate against Israel’s 75th anniversary as an independent state
Ritchie Torres, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, accused Mohammed of suffering from ‘anti-Israel derangement syndrome.’
‘Imagine being so crazed by hatred for Israel as a Jewish State that you make it the subject of your commencement speech at a law school graduation,’ he said.
Arsen Ostrovsky, CEO of The International Legal Forum, a global network of lawyers combating antisemitism, said that CUNY had become ‘Ground Zero for Jew hatred on campus in America today.’
‘One might expect such speech in Ramallah or Lebanon, but sadly, CUNY has become indistinguishable these days,’ Ostrovsky said.
‘Given CUNY’s status as a public institution, their funding must be immediately revoked, as it is unfathomable that state funds would be underwriting such visceral racial hatred and incitement,’ he said.
DailyMail.com has contacted CUNY’s media team to seek comment.
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