The NY Senate and CUNY are playing a dangerous game over claims of anti-Semitism

Israel, Zionism and anti- Semitism have all been over the news in recent weeks, mostly due to speeches given by most of the 2016 presidential candidates at the AIPAC summit in Washington DC. Thousands watched as Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump gave eerily similar speeches, reaffirming their commitment to the Israeli/American relationship, capitulating to the “defense demands” of the Israeli leadership, and framing BDS movements as unquestionably antisemetic (with nary a merciful word spared for the Palestinian people.)

CUNY students might be reminded of these topics for a different reason: the New York Senate’s concern that antisemitism in the school system is not being adequately addressed by our school administrations. The Senate has decided that it would be fair to hold $485 million in state funding hostage until their concerns have been adequately addressed.

Before getting into any of this I must say, I have no affiliation with Islam or Judaism. In fact, I am an atheist student who believes that religious dogma tends to cloud one’s view of the universe as it truly is. That being said, I value the freedom of belief and think it should be equally ensured for all groups. That is why I find it so disappointing that CUNY and the New York senate have so willingly taken sides on such a divisive religious issue. It’s a highly inappropriate stance to take for entities that serve such a broad constituency. In a perfect world, CUNY would have a completely secular focus, with equal accommodation made for students of all religions. As those paying attention have seen, this has not been the case.

The conflation of Zionism with the Judaism is a deliberate attempt to remove nuance from the conversation, as it always has been. One really must question why anyone would ever want to sell out their ancient, sacred religion for a fairly recent political movement, especially one that completely flies in the face of our first-world aspirations: religious tolerance, racial equality, and secular governance. Don’t forget, we’re talking about a country that is segregationist, and therefore, inherently undemocratic. The aligning of CUNY with Zionist interests was already bad enough, now students of all faiths and beliefs– including Jews, will be harmed because powerful interests want an excuse to cut funding. We’re all a lot smarter than this. Nobody’s falling for it, not in the Senate, not in the CUNY administration, and not on our campuses… But that doesn’t really matter. The entities that influence each and every one of our futures are acting as they often have: without regard for those they’re supposed to serve, free from the burdens of oversight and conscience. To call it a disgrace would be a severe understatement.

The close surveillance of Muslim-oriented clubs and Palestinian liberation groups is something that we’re asked to accept as a way of life. Sure, the NYPD and public safety officers will say that the members of these groups aren’t necessarily dangerous, but of course, you “never know”. The prospect of seeing anywhere near $485 million held hostage from CUNY until there’s a decrease in anti-Muslim sentiment is so laughable that no one would ever dare propose it. At the same time, we know these government agencies are determined to hinder our ability to earn an affordable education– all in response to a series of barely verifiable claims about incidents that are pretty much impossible to entirely prevent. As for the criteria of would actually satisfy the Senate’s concern, that’s pretty much a mystery. I’m not sure how they think campuses will be able to prevent these incidents without trampling on students’ first amendment rights, but I guess that doesn’t matter to them. It turns out, widespread corruption is another way of life they’re forcing us to accept.

These administrations regularly fail our city’s Muslim students, yet they want people of all faiths to accept such a massively disproportionate response when confronted with the concerns of Zionists. I guess when you see the Israeli government as a role model you start to emulate them too.