ActionReports

Update from CUNY: Students Need Our Support

We urge you all to join us in supporting the #CUNY22 who are facing felony charges after being arrested at protests and Gaza solidarity encampments. 

 

Tell CUNY to meet the 5 Demands!

Drop the charges for the CUNY 22!

Free Palestine!
 

📆 June 12th | 17th | 18th 

⏰ 8:30 AM

Day 242 of the zionist-imperialist genocide in Gaza has brought news of more death and destruction. Overnight, the Israeli occupation’s air force carried out a series of airstrikes in central and western parts of Rafah. Several Palestinians were killed in a bombing at the UNRWA clinic in Al-Bureij refugee camp, located in Gaza. Since last October, Israel has dropped over 75,000 tons of bombs in the Gaza Strip, exceeding the combined totals dropped on Dresden, Hamburg, and London during World War II. International and UN reports confirm famine in North Gaza, exacerbated by the IOF’s refusal to allow aid into the besieged strip despite international calls, including those from the International Court of Justice. IOF brutalization and killings are also ongoing in the West Bank, with reports of the murder of two children, 16-year-old Ahmad Ashraf Walid Hmaidat and 17-year-old Mohammad Mousa “Mohammad Nabil” Al-Beitar in the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp on Saturday.  In total, 129 Palestinian children have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7. We continue to be inspired by the resistance and resilience of the Palestinian people who, despite these atrocities, remain steadfast in their struggle for Palestinian national liberation. 

In New York, the racist NYPD, who train with the IOF, have continued their fascist violence and repression against our movement. On Friday, 5/31, the NYPD brutalized and arrested dozens of protestors including WOL Chair Nerdeen Kiswani during a de-occupation of the Brooklyn Museum. We call for an end to the repression and fascist targeting of our movement and join the call to boycott the Brooklyn Museum. 

Our CUNY community has been busy organizing, mobilizing and agitating around the campaign to drop all charges against our CUNY comrades facing felony charges and that the 5 Demands of the CUNY Gaza Solidarity Encampment are met. Students have declared that there will be no graduations as normal during a genocide and have disrupted CUNY graduations (including:  HunterHunter-Silberman, CUNY Law, CUNY SLU,  John Jay, & CSI) with powerful displays of solidarity with Gaza and Palestinian liberation. Inspired by the sit-in and open negotiations at the CUNY Graduate Center, as well as the pro-Palestine movement more broadly, SLU students staged a sit-in at their dean’s office, which they renamed the Rafah Solidarity Room. CUNY-wide, students have also organized their own People’s Graduation in solidarity with the 22 CUNY students facing felony charges and with the 5 Demands.

CUNY4Palestine is proud to endorse and encouraged all our comrades to attend the Not in Our Name rally tomorrow (06/05) at 5pm to boycott Hillel and uphold the 5 Demands! Join the rally at Baruch Campus, Clivner Field Plaza. We demand CUNY sever its partnerships with Hillel International for its direct complicity in genocide in Gaza!

Members of our CUNY community are facing felony charges for courageously standing up for justice in Palestine. CUNY4Palestine is outraged that our administration has not called for the charges to be dropped despite the disparity in charges against CUNY students, faculty and community members in comparison to those against members of the Columbia encampment. It is clear that given our largely working class, Black and Brown student body, race and class  play a role in this disparity. Over 4000 individuals and hundreds of organizations have signed on to our Statement of Solidarity with the CUNY Gaza Solidarity Encampment & CUNY Community Members Subject to Brutal Police Violence, Arrest and Detention. We delivered our statement to Chancellor Matos Rodriguez and the Board of Trustees on Monday 06/03 with this disruption.Disclose, divest! We will not stop, we will not rest!!

In solidarity for a free Palestine,

CUNY4Palestine 
Upcoming Protests, Teach-Ins, and Events:Flyers posted below with alt textTODAY-TUESDAY, June 4:30pm. Picket at Barclays Center. “Urgent Call: No Celebration Till Liberation. Demand Hunter College Divests.” WEDNESDAY, June 5, 5 pm. Baruch College. Clivner Field Plaza.  Not In Our Name Rally “Hillel your hands are red! Over 40,000 dead! Hillel stands with genocide” SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 2pm. Washington DC. “Biden, we are your RED LINE. Stop the genocide! Surround the White House! To endorse the action, or find transportation from your city visit: https://www.answercoalition.org/gazajune8”
Know Your Rights Resources:
Student Resources for Activism on Campus and Employment (CUNY Clear)
Palestine Legal: Know Your Rights
Know Your Rights Training: Rights When Protesting & Advocating for Palestine (Palestine Legal, CUNY Clear, and CUNY for Palestine)
“If An Agent Knocks” – Know your rights if you’re ever approached by law enforcement! (Center for Constitutional Rights)
Statements, Calls, Articles and Resources:
Statement in Solidarity with Columbia University Students Confronting Repression. Sign on here
Not In Our Name: CUNY Jewish Antizionists in Solidarity with Palestinian Liberation https://tinyurl.com/CUNYNION.CUNY4Palestine BDS petition. 
Please sign and share widely!Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions: Urgent May Day appeal to US labor from PGFTU-Gaza: Words are not enough — End all complicity and stop arming Israel now! https://x.com/labor4palestine/status/1771989177032130878
Within Our Lifetime: â€œThe Crackdown on Palestine: Unveiling NYPD’s Repression Tactics”: https://wolpalestine.com/RESISTREPRESSION/
Join CUNYAlum4Palestine: The CUNYAlum4Palestine network is live. Join at tinyurl.com/JOINCA4P and share and follow on Instagram @cunyalum4palestine
CUNY stands with Palestine Liberation, despite what the chancellor says (10/14/23 statement): https://tiny.cc/C4P2023
CUNY for Palestine Welcomes PSC-CUNY Endorsement of Ceasefire and Affirms Support for the Palestinian Trade Union Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS): https://laborforpalestine.net/2024/01/19/cuny-for-palestine-welcomes-psc-cuny-endorsement-of-ceasefire-and-affirms-support-for-the-palestinian-trade-union-call-for-boycott-divestment-and-sanctions-bds/