CUNY union retracts BDS resolution

CUNY authorities had published a statement denouncing BDS activity and condemning CUNY

 A person holds a placard and a Palestinian flag as City University of New York (CUNY) students rally in support of Palestinians, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 2, 2023.  (photo credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR)
A person holds a placard and a Palestinian flag as City University of New York (CUNY) students rally in support of Palestinians, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 2, 2023.
(photo credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR)

The City University of New York (CUNY)'s Professional Staff Congress reversed their January 23 resolution calling for divestment from Israeli companies and the Israeli government in response to the war against Hamas in Gaza in a vote two weeks ago.

Professional Staff Congress (PSC) voted 113-62 to reverse the resolution, which had originally passed 73-70 in January.

CUNY authorities denounced BDS activity and condemned the PSC's resolution in a statement published on February 3.

Pro-Palestinian activists affiliated with CUNY referred to the PSC's reversal as "ignoring the will of the rank & file & student body" and added that the PSC "caved in to Zionist/right-wing pressure to cross the Palestinian labor picket line."

Other activists stated that this was a "shameful decision" that they alleged came after New York Governor Kathy Hochul and "Zionist anti-union organizations threatened the union."

 Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate outside the CUNY Graduate Center Library on Fifth Avenue and 34th Street in Manhattan, New York, on May 14, 2024, after other protesters took over the building’s lobby. (credit: Gardiner Anderson/New York Daily News/TNS)
Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate outside the CUNY Graduate Center Library on Fifth Avenue and 34th Street in Manhattan, New York, on May 14, 2024, after other protesters took over the building’s lobby. (credit: Gardiner Anderson/New York Daily News/TNS)

"These attempts to concede to Zionists in order to preserve the union will fail," the activists continued.

"Throwing Palestinians under the bus will not protect us from fascism... An injury to one is an injury to all," the activists wrote. 

S.A.F.E. Campus referred to the January resolution as a "hateful action" and stated that they were "proud to have played a part in this positive development."

Other CUNY anti-Zionist events

Two Hunter College Palestinian studies faculty applications for teaching issues such as apartheid and genocide were canceled on February 25, according to CUNY, after direction from Hochul.

Michael Starr contributed to this report.