Ahead of a planned congressional hearing of university administrators from the City University of New York (CUNY), Georgetown, and University of California Berkeley titled “Antisemitism in Higher Education: Examining the Role of Faculty, Funding, and Ideology,” the CUNY administration has intensified its repression of faculty and students involved in pro-Palestine activism. At least four adjunct faculty members have been fired and at least one student is facing disciplinary charges. It is essential that the entire CUNY community, as well as everyone who supports the right to protest and free speech, stand up against these attacks.
In the latest wave of repression at CUNY, a student from City College of New York (CCNY), Hadeeqa Arzoo Malik, has been suspended for a year from all 25 CUNY campuses. She is the president of the CCNY chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and prior to being suspended, she had not received any academic sanction. A Muslim student herself, Malik has been accused of Islamophobic behavior toward an NYPD officer at a rally protesting Governor Kathy Hochul’s planned visit to the CCNY campus in February, which was subsequently cancelled. There are other students who have been disciplined as well.
At least four adjunct faculty members have been fired from their positions at Brooklyn College, and the other CUNY schools at which they taught, over what appears to be support for Palestine. Three of them were not reappointed for their teaching positions for the academic year of 2025-26 and one was fired after being reappointed. In a statement posted on Instagram, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), the union representing faculty and staff at CUNY, states:
CUNY is firing faculty for their politics. Four adjunct faculty members at Brooklyn College have been fired in irregular and alarming circumstances. At once, university administrators overrode department chairs, who had recommended adjunct faculty reappointments in light of excellent teaching performance and available course offerings. The only thing the fired professors had in common was their public advocacy for Palestinian rights. While the university refuses to offer an explanation, the PSC sees “all appearances of an ideological purge” and demands the reinstatement of our affected members. Now more than ever, we must defend free expression. No to the new McCarthyism!
In June, the delegate assembly of the PSC approved a resolution against these dismissals. James Davis, the president of the union, wrote a letter to CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez likening this wave of repression to McCarthyism. Dozens of Jewish faculty across CUNY colleges also signed a public letter to the Chancellor demanding that the four fired faculty be reappointed.
In 2023 — months after the beginning of the genocide in Gaza — U.S. lawmakers passed a resolution ruling that anti-Zionism was the same as antisemitism in order to repress protests against the U.S. taxpayer-funded genocide. While repression of pro-Palestine speech has always existed in the United States, this resolution further strengthened it. This made it easier for the infringement of basic democratic rights being observed on university campuses nationwide today, where students and faculty face restrictions on their rights to free speech, academic freedom, and to protest. International students have been affected much more strongly than others.
But these attacks on pro-Palestine speech are not new. There has long been a “Palestine exception” to free speech under the progressive neoliberal order which has always served the imperialist purpose of manufacturing consent for the genocide and occupation of Palestine.
Originally scheduled for July 9, the congressional hearing where Chancellor Matos Rodríguez is testifying has now been postponed to Tuesday, July 15. Previous such hearings involving other universities have included members of Congress questioning administrators about pro-Palestine faculty by name, specifically targeting those involved with SJP.
On Tuesday, July 8, CUNY for Palestine held a press conference in support of the suspended students and faculty, where the NYPD arrested some attendees and allowed Zionist counter protestors to violently intimidate the press conference.
This escalating repression of students and faculty nationwide not only weakens the movement for Palestinian liberation but also severely threatens democratic rights. These attacks go hand in hand with the offensive on immigrants and the labor movement. Earlier this year, Palestinian Columbia University student and worker Mahmoud Khalil faced the possibility of having his green card revoked and was put in ICE detention due to the right-wing attacks on all the sectors of the movement from immigrants to students to workers. Another Columbia University student worker and the president of the Student Workers of Columbia (SWC) union, Grant Miner, was suspended a day before contract negotiations were set to begin due to these attacks. In a further escalation of repression, Trump has threatened to arrest New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s and “look into” his citizenship. The Department of Justice is now considering revoking the citizenship of naturalized citizens whom it deems “criminals” at the same time that birthright citizenship is potentially being eroded. But this opens up the possibility of attacks on immigrants without any criminal history and even on U.S.-born citizens. Just as these attacks are connected, our fight back must be connected as well. The struggle from below against this repression also needs to be a united fight.
There is tremendous potential to build this kind of struggle. In the past few months, the millions of people showing up to the No Kings marches, to anti-ICE protests, and to canvass and vote for a progressive democratic socialist like Zohran Mamdani demonstrate that they are hungry for change. This spark of resistance can fuel a united mass movement against the repression of and for the rights of students, faculty, and oppressed communities alike. Labor unions have a central role to play in organizing the rank and file of the labor movement towards a united struggle against all of these attacks. PSC-CUNY has a unique opportunity to organize students and workers together in this struggle against what it is calling the “New McCarthyism” that is hurting both students and academic workers. There is potential for a mass movement and our unions must play a role in organizing it.
Reinstate the fired four now!
Reinstate all students now!
End the attacks on free speech and the right to protest!