CUNY Law quietly bans student speeches at graduation ceremonies after infamous anti-Israel rant by Fatima Mousa Mohammed that called for attacks on ‘fascist’ NYPD and military

CUNY’s law school has banned student speakers at future commencements after last year’s anti-Israel speech that the NYPD and other groups called ‘fascist.’

In a now-infamous speech last year, Yemeni immigrant Fatima Mousa Mohammed claimed that laws were “white supremacy” and attacked American institutions.

The speech drew immediate backlash from numerous organizations and elected officials, even as Fatima defended her words and doubled down on her message.

Now administrations have quietly banned student speakers from the school’s graduation ceremonies, though they will still hold speeches as “pre-commencement” events.

“It’s a great step to try to combat hate speech at the law school — that they’re changing the process to make sure that what happened the last two years doesn’t happen again,” said NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov .

During the controversial speech, Dean Sudha Shetty was seen sitting on the stage and clapping for Mohammed.

CUNY aims to make its 2024 ceremony ‘shorter and focused on making everyone who attended feel welcome’

“We appreciate the small steps, but everything they do can’t just be a reaction to bad press,” she told the New York Post.

In a statement, the school said it was “committed to securing a ‘welcome’ commencement ceremony” for 2024.

Adar Rubin, an activist with End Jew Hatred also welcomed the idea that a student speaker would not be allowed.

Rubin wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the decision to “ban a student speaker was a small step in the right direction” but that it did not go far enough because it “allowed students to hold a private pre-commencement event , opened the door. for student speakers to ‘Spew Jew Hatred’.

“Furthermore, Dean Sudha Setty’s statement below categorizing the NY Jewish community’s outrage and pleas for CUNY to recognize their civil rights on campus as “anti-Palestinian harassment” is shameless,” he added.

Some students disagreed with CUNY’s resolution and believe the school is restricting free speech.

“I understand why they want to do it, you know, to eliminate controversy and stuff like that,” said CUNY Law Student Michael Piazza.

“But, you know, I believe in freedom of speech, so I think whether someone disagrees or disagrees with what she said, I think she should probably be allowed to say it.”

Mohammed blasted the NYPD and the US military as “fascists” and called on her peers to continue “revolution” against capitalism and racism across the country.

The would-be lawyer claimed that black and brown inmates are killed daily in US prisons, and accused her own university of ‘collaborating with global violence’.

Mohammed began her speech by saying, ‘I chose CUNY School of Law for its articulated mission to be law in the service of human need.

“One of very few legal institutions created to recognize that the law is a manifestation of white supremacy that continues to oppress and oppress people in this nation and around the world.”

During the controversial speech, Dean Sudha Shetty was seen sitting on the stage and clapping for Mohammed. However, many people spoke out after the address.

The would-be lawyer claimed that black and brown inmates are killed daily in US prisons, and accused her own university of ‘collaborating with global violence’.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who was present at the ceremony, later criticized the speech in a tweet.

“I was proud to offer a different message at this year’s CUNY Law Commencement Ceremony – one that celebrates the progress of our city and country, and one that honors those who fight to keep us safe and protect our freedoms, like my uncle Joe, who died in Vietnam at age 19 giving his life for our country,’ Adams said.

‘We cannot allow words of negativity and division to be the only ones our students hear.’

Former United States Representative Lee Zeldin, and the Republican candidate for governor in New York, said: ‘Growing antisemitism has completely consumed the City University of New York.

“Until the administration is overhauled and all Jewish students and faculty are welcome back, taxpayer funding must be stopped immediately.”

“Zionism is built on racist, colonial settler dispossession and ethnic cleansing,” she said, almost reciting her speech word for word.

But massive criticism and hatred did not deter Mohammad from her views.

“I didn’t think CUNY would come out and say that my speech, which was sanctioned by CUNY Law, was ‘hate speech.’ she told Alex Kane, senior reporter for Jewish Currents.

She added “even a first-year law student would know that they are using a definition of hate speech that does not meet the legal standard.”

Mohammad then went on to talk about her anti-Zionist views.

“Zionism is built on racist, colonial expropriation of settler and ethnic cleansing,” she said, almost reciting her speech word for word.

“For as long as Zionism has existed, it has inflicted violence and pain on the Palestinian people. Our tax dollars are used to fund this violence.

She argued that her anti-Zionist views were in fact her and her classmates’ ‘responsibility’ as future lawyers – and it was her way of honoring her fellow graduates.

“Calling out Zionism was my way of honoring my colleagues’ choice of me as class speaker, as well as our school’s mission statement,” she said.

Regarding her anger-filled comments about the military, Mohammed said that CUNY students have been “vocal in resisting racism, protesting the role of the military-industrial complex, protesting the privatization of higher education, and supporting from global movements of liberation from South Africa to Puerto Rico to Palestine.’

“Those calling for CUNY to be defunded are willfully ignorant of what CUNY is and who CUNY serves,” she said.

During her time as a student in the City, Mohammed was known for being an avid protester and active member of Students for Justice in Palestine.