CAIR-NY Condemns CUNY Law Censorship of Muslim Student’s Pro-Palestinian Commencement Speech

(NEW YORK, NY, 5/23/2023) - The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) today condemned CUNY Law for reportedly censoring Yemeni-American Fatima Mohammed’s pro-Palestinian commencement speech. Mohammed was selected by her peers to give the student commencement speech. In her commencement address, Mohammed discussed the unique nature of CUNY Law and the values it embodies as a public interest law school. Mohammed also explained that many students joined CUNY Law to gain the necessary legal skills to confront the systems of oppression and to apply principles consistently. She reminded the audience that “Palestine can no longer be the exception to our pursuit of justice,” and discussed the various human rights violations inflicted by Israel on Palestinians. Mohammed gave the commencement speech on May 13, 2023. Like all the commencement speeches for the last nine years, CUNY Law livestreamed the speech. However, in the past week, Mohammed’s commencement