The ‘Palestinian Exception’ to College Campus Free Speech

This year, graduating CUNY Law student Fatima Mohammed was elected by her peers to speak at her school’s commencement ceremony. Taking the stage during the May 12 ceremony, at a school that enjoys a reputation for social justice, Mohammed used her platform to speak about her class’ experiences and a number of political issues.

She spoke, for instance, about her classmates’ shared struggles with COVID and highlighted their efforts to stop CUNY from contracting with data companies that work with ICE. She drew attention to deadly conditions at Rikers Island, criticized Mayor Eric Adams and Senator Chuck Schumer’s lukewarm responses to the killing of Jordan Neely, and condemned CUNY Central for its ties to the NYPD, which she called a fascist institution.

But Mohammed’s remarks about “Israeli settler colonialism,” while resoundingly applauded in the auditorium at the time, would come to touch a nerve after the fact.

Read more at The Daily Beast.