New York Governor Kathy Hochul directed the City University of New York (CUNY) to remove a job advertisement for a Palestinian Studies instructor at Hunter College effective immediately. This came after Jewish monitoring organizations complained, mounting pressure on the administration to act.
The Governor’s office said that action was taken in order not to promote antisemitic theories in classrooms at the Upper East Side taxpayer-funded institution.
Kathy Hochul Office Defends the Action
The governor’s office confirmed the move, saying, “Governor Hochul has ordered CUNY to take down this job posting immediately and conduct a full review of the position to make sure antisemitic ideologies are not being taught in the classroom.”
The spokesperson added the governor’s strong commitment against hate speech. “The Governor has continued to condemn very strongly all antisemitism and has made it very clear that hateful rhetoric of any type has no place at CUNY or anywhere in New York State.”
The job posting has since been taken down from CUNY’s website.
Information on the Infamous Job Posting
The since-deleted advertisement stated that the position was one of a “cluster hire” for two positions in Palestinian Studies. It stated that the university was looking for “a historically informed scholar who brings a critical perspective to questions regarding Palestine including but not limited to: settler colonialism, genocide, human rights, apartheid, migration, climate and infrastructure destruction, health, race, gender, and sexuality.”
The description fueled outrage, with critics accusing it of propagating biased views and contentious political narratives.
Campus Free Speech Tensions Amid Israel-Hamas War
Since the Israel-Hamas war resumed on October 7, 2023, free speech on American college campuses has been a tinderbox. In December, controversy erupted at Columbia University after students circulated a publication called The Columbia Intifada throughout campus.
The paper published inciting articles with headlines such as “Zionist Peace Means Palestinian Blood” and “The Myth of the Two-State Solution.” It also had a tutorial on “wheatpasting,” a technique employed to paste propaganda leaflets on public surfaces.
CUNY’s History of Antisemitism Allegations
CUNY itself was also accused of antisemitism in recent years. A September 2023 independent investigation commissioned by Governor Kathy Hochul concluded that the institution required a full reformation to combat “alarming” instances of antisemitism, which, the report said, were being abetted by some faculty and administrators.
Hochul’s recent move to step into CUNY’s hiring process is a reflection of her ongoing efforts to address antisemitism in higher education institutions throughout New York.
