The CUNY Graduate Center’s student government approved a boycott resolution to bar student activity fees from being used to buy goods “that support or benefit from the US-backed Israeli occupation of Palestine” — a move blasted by critics as antisemitic and illegal.
The boycott list includes Sabra brand hummus and related products, Starbucks coffee, food and drinks from McDonald’s, Burger King, Papa Johns and “fruits or vegetables grown in Israel.”
Other blacklisted items include HP computers and printers, Siemens appliances, Sodastream equipment or products and Ahava cosmetics, according to the resolution adopted last Friday by the The Graduate Center’s Doctoral and Graduate Students Council (DGSC).
The boycott also covers “events or publications that cooperate with or promote Israeli academic institutions.”
The edict — passed in a 31 to 8 vote with 5 abstentions — takes effect Nov. 1.
“DGSC does not allow its resources or the student fees it manages to be used in connection with products or services that support or benefit from the US-backed Israeli occupation of Palestine,” the resolution said.
The student council said it will add a statement to reimbursement forms, grant forms, and room
reservations about the boycott.
“Violation of this policy may result in DGSC canceling or revoking resources,” the student council said.
The resolution drew rebuke from current and former members of academia.
“It’s an absolute violation. You can’t have Jewish students pay for fees used for prejudicial activity against them,” said former longtime CUNY board of trustees member Jeffrey Wiesenfeld.
He added, “Absolutely 100 percent it’s antisemitic.”
Brooklyn College science professor David Seidemann said the resolution appears to violate the free speech rights of students who support Israel or disapprove of using their dollars to support an anti-Israel boycott.
“First, the student government is funded by money that is raised and disbursed by CUNY, and it maintains space at CUNY. Withholding publicly funded resources from those with different political beliefs – as the council rule threatens – constitutes viewpoint discrimination, a violation of the First Amendment,” Seidemann said.
He also noted the New York governor’s executive order that mandates state entities “to divest all public funds supporting the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel.”
Under that order, the CUNY Board is required to defund the graduate student council, Seidemann claimed.
Meanwhile, a letter 70 grad center students and faculty sent to CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos-Rodriguez complained about radicalized student council leaders who are obsessed where their own narrow political agenda rather than serving all the students.
“Not only does the DGSC not encourage a sense of belonging to a diverse community, but it also actively suppresses discussion and promotes the exclusion of certain groups of students from its activities. The exploitation of power by DGSC officers and representatives to promote their own opinions is not only deeply offensive to some of the students, but could potentially harm their future careers,” the CUNY Grad students and faculty told the chancellor.
“We expect the administration of the Graduate Center to demand that the DGSC act as an impartial representative organization of the student body or be stripped of its representative powers and lose the university’s endorsement and access to student funds,” the critics said.
The DGSC’s five-page resolution also calls on the City University of New York to back boycott, divestment and other sanctions against Israel.
“Divest!: CUNY must immediately and completely divest from companies that produce weapons and technology used for zionist settler-colonial violence,” the doctoral and graduate students council’s resolution says.
“Boycott!: Ban all academic trips to Israel; encompassing birthright, Fulbright, and prospective trips. Cancel all forms of cooperation with Israeli academic institutions, including events, activities, agreements, and research collaborations.”
They also urge “solidarity” with Palestinians and recognize the right of all “colonized peoples” to stand up to the “colonizers”.
The measure also recommends getting the NYPD and IOF [Israel Occupation Forces] “off our campuses.”
The council also demanded that CUNY provide free tuition “so that CUNY is not beholden to Zionist and imperialist private donors.”
CUNY schools were beset by anti-Israel campus violence last spring — including the occupation of CUNY Graduate Center’s library and a series of unruly protests at City College of New York (CCNY)’s Upper Manhattan campus that caused more than $3 million in damage.
CUNY had no immediate comment.
Last month, a probe initiated by Gov. Kathy Hochul found that CUNY needs a top-to-bottom overhaul to combat “alarming’’ antisemitism fanned by its own faculty and do-nothing higher-ups.
“I feel compelled to note that recently there has been an alarming number of unacceptable antisemitic incidents targeting members of the CUNY community,” retired state Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, who issued the report after a 10-month review.
“So many people do not feel safe on campuses and that’s at the heart of the problem.”
