A labor union of City University of New York professors repealed a controversial resolution supporting a boycott of Israel – as members cited voting “irregularities” and fierce backlash.
The “boycott, divest and sanction” resolution passed last month last month focused on cutting off union reserves from the Jewish State and urging the teachers’ pension system including professors to do the same.
It passed in a narrow 73-70 and slammed Israel’s bombing of Gaza and the killing of thousands of civilians.
But amid a backlash from members who support Israel, leaders with the Professional Staff Congress said there were “irregularities” with the initial Jan. 23 vote.
The faculty union held a second vote on the BDS resolution Feb. 20 — and the divestment resolution was overwhelmingly defeated with 113 opposed, while only 63 votes in favor.
“The [PSC] Delegate Assembly chose to rescind the resolution because irregularities were identified in the January 23 vote. The irregularities were corrected and a revote was held on February 20,” confirmed PSC spokesman Francis Clark.
“The divestment resolution failed with a vote of 113 opposed, 63 in favor.”
Pro-Israel professors claimed criticism of the anti-Israel resolution pressured the union to conduct a revote on it. Opponents claimed singling out the Jewish State for a boycott was antisemitic.
For example, the statement made no mention of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel when Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people in the Jewish State and took scores of hostages — triggering Israel’s response and effectively ending the war.
“I am thrilled that the union – solely for its own survival—rescinded its hateful, illegal, and antisemitic resolution and I am hopeful that this is a trend that catches on nationally,” said CUNY law professor Jeffrey Lax, founder of Students, Alumni, and Faculty for Equality on Campus [S.A.F.E].
“We have a long way to go to reform this union and make it a tolerant one for Jewish and all people.”
It’s not the first time that the PSC outraged professors with anti Israel actions.
In June 2021, the CUNY professors’ union passed a one-sided resolution rebuking Israel for attacks on Palestinians — indicating then it may support the BDS movement down the road.
Scores of professors have quit the union over its hostility to Israel, Lax said.
In 2022, professors at CUNY’s Law School also passed a resolution in support of the BDS movement.
Students, joined by some professors, disrupted and even vandalized some CUNY campuses with anti-Israel protests over the past year.
An independent probe commissioned by Hochul and released last September found that CUNY needs a top-to-bottom overhaul to combat “alarming’’ antisemitism fanned by its own faculty and do-nothing higher-ups.
