The climate for Jewish students has become so hostile at the City University of New York (CUNY) that many fear admitting they are Jewish. “In a university with thousands of Jewish alumni and where Jews were allowed and welcomed for generations, we want our students to feel wonderful, not negative,” Ilya Bratman, the executive director of Hillel at Baruch College in Manhattan told The Jewish Link. “Students are afraid to admit they are Jewish and we just can’t have that.” The latest incident contributing to the wave of hostility is a statement from the CUNY School of Law’s Student Government Association, which passed a resolution endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and targeting Hillel, among other campus groups.
Pro-Israel students and faculty are steeling themselves for a fight when classes resume next month at the 25 campuses of the City University of New York (CUNY), in the aftermath of a resolution passed by its Professional Staff Congress (PSC) calling Israel “a settler colonial state.” The resolution has prompted the resignation of more than 50 professors from the union, with many more expected, and has been condemned by staff, students, politicians and Jewish organizations as antisemitic. “We are looking at and anticipating a very hostile environment at CUNY,” said Ilya Bratman, the executive director of Hillel at Baruch College in Manhattan.