City University of New York Doctoral Students Back Israel Boycott

The Jerusalem Post reports: A group of doctoral students at the City University of New York passed a resolution calling for an academic boycott of Israel.

The Doctoral Students’ Council resolution, which called to “boycott Israeli academic institutions for as long as the Israeli state continues to violate Palestinian rights under international law,” passed on Friday afternoon with 42 students voting in favor and 19 opposed, with 9 abstentions. The council represents nearly 5,000 graduate students.

The resolution also expressed support for the campus organization Students for Justice in Palestine, the New York Daily News reported.

Jack Martins, a Republican state senator representing Nassau County, called the resolution “hate speech.” He added that the group stacked the deck in favor of the resolution by calling the vote so close to the Jewish Sabbath.

“Their effort to silence any opposition by scheduling the vote for this Friday during the Sabbath, when observant Jews cannot attend to voice their concerns, is no coincidence,” Martins wrote in a letter to CUNY Chancellor James Milliken, adding that the resolution was “disgusting and shameful.”

Milliken has said he opposes an academic boycott of Israel.