April 26, 2024
Governor Kathy Hochul NYS State Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224
Mayor Eric Adams New York City Hall 250 Broadway New York, NY 10007
Alvin Bragg
Manhattan District Attorney One Hogan Place New York, NY 10013
Minouche Shafik
Columba University Office of the President 202 Low Library 535 W. 116 St., MC 4309 New York, NY 10027
Linda Mills
NYU Office of the President 70 Washington Sq South New York, NY 10012
Council on American-Islamic Relations, New York 80 Broad Street, Fifth Floor New York, New York 10009
www.cair-ny.org | legal@ny.cair.com | (646) 665-7599
Dear Governor Hochul, Mayor Adams, District Attorney Alvin Bragg, NYU President Mills, and Columbia President Shafik:
We, the undersigned, write to express our solidarity with the students at Columbia University, New York University (NYU), and many other students and faculty who are on the frontlines calling for a ceasefire and peace in Palestine and for the universities to divest from companies complicit in the violation of Palestinian human rights As the United States continues to fund horrific murder and genocide, it is all the more important to keep up public pressure and use
the tools at our disposal to speak out against human rights violations and the ongoing war crimes that our government is participating in.
We condemn NYU’s and Columbia University’s decision to call the NYPD and suspend students who are protesting at their respective universities. It is a thinly veiled attempt at censorship and punishment of students and a direct attack on academic freedom.
These actions by prestigious universities are not isolated. Columbia University suspended two student clubs, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, after receiving pressure to silence their pro-Palestinian advocacy. 1 President Shafik has also called the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) on Columbia Students hosting a seminar titled “Resistance 101.” To call on an entity as notorious as the FBI for surveilling and, at times, violently quelling social justice movements is an affront to the safety of Columbia students and to our democracy. NYU has similarly faced backlash for its utter failure to protect pro-Palestinian voices and punish those who speak out. 2
We reject any attempts to characterize pro-Palestinian advocacy as inherently antisemitic and dangerous. Such characterization harms Muslim and Jewish students alike, shuts down debate where it must be safely fostered, and undermines the severity of truly hateful antisemitic and Islamophobic comments. Governor Kathy Hochul’s 3 and Mayor Eric Adams’ 4 mischaracterization of the protests as a whole as “antisemitic” and “harassment” is an attempt to distract from the protestors’ core message: end the genocide in Palestine.
The undersigned call on all New York universities and colleges to:
1. Immediately revoke the suspensions of students who protest;
2. Revise its policies on calling law enforcement for student protests; and
1 https://www.nyclu.org/court-cases/columbia-students-justice-palestine-jewish-voice-peace-v-columbiauniversity
2 https://confluence.gallatin.nyu.edu/context/independent-project/gallatins-failure-to-protect-pro-palestine-voices ; https://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/stuSenatorsCouncil/documents/Resolution%20to%20Reaffirm%20ProPalestinian%20Speech%20and%20Civic%20Activity%20on%20Campus.pdf
3 https://twitter.com/GovKathyHochul/status/17824285484367754
4 https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/19/us/palestinian-protest-columbia-what-we-know/index.html
3. Honor the rights of students and faculty to engage in peaceful political speech without fear of punishment.
The undersigned call on New York public officials to:
1. Dismiss all criminal charges against student protestors; and
2. Desist in the dangerous rhetoric conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism.
In Solidarity,
18 Million Rising
Al Masjidu Adam Community Life Center for Human Excellence
Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition (PRRC)
American Muslim Bar Association
Arab American Association of New York
Ash-Shifaa Inc.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Justice in San Antonio, TX
Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)
Association of Muslim American Lawyers (AMAL)
Bangladeshi American Advocacy Group (BAAG)
Cameroon American Council
CCNY Muslim Students Organization
Chinese for Affirmative Action
Council on American Islamic Relations, New York (CAIR-NY)
Defending Rights & Dissent
Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM)
Equality for Flatbush (E4F)
Filipino Advocates for Justice
Hillside Islamic Center
Hollis Jamaica Friends & Family Inc.
ICNA Council for Social Justice
International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM)
Interfaith Center of USA
Islamic Circle of North America
Islamic Civic Association
Islamic Indigenous Compassionate Care Inc
Justice4Palestine, Actions Enablement Network
Korean American Peace Fund
Legacies of War
Long Island Muslim Society Sister’s Program
Muslim American Society
Muslim American Society - Brooklyn
Muslim American Society Youth Center
Muslim American Society- Sheepshead Bay
MinKwon Center for Community Action
Mount Sinai Muslim Center
MPower Change
Muslim Bar Association of New York (MuBANY)
Muslim Community Forum
Muslim Community Network
Muslim Council of Suffolk County
Muslim Students Association at New York University
Muslims for Just Futures
Muslims for Liberty
Muslims For Progress
National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (CAPACD)
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Partnership for New Americans
New York Muslim Action Network (NYMAN)
New York Progressive Action Network
NoSpaceForHate
NYU Muslim Law Students Association
OPAWL - Building AAPI Feminist Leadership
PalAwada Long Island
Rhode Island Community Khayr
Rockaway for Ceasefire
Seeding Change
South Asian SOAR
South Asian Solidarity Foundation
Southeast Queens Muslim Collective (SEQMC)
Student Voices for Palestine
Students for Justice in Palestine at NYU
We Are All America (WAAA)
We Belong Here NY
We Charge Colonialism
Women In Islam Inc.