Frequently Asked Questions
I saw the union’s resolution in support of Palestinian people. Isn’t it reasonable for PSC CUNY to issue statements of solidarity with oppressed people around the world? Aren’t Palestinians suffering?
The main purpose of PSC CUNY is to ensure fair & safe working conditions, compensation, and benefits for the CUNY workforce. It is OK to express solidarity with workers in other institutions and industries in the US, and support all who live in the US, regardless of their immigration status.
We are living in a breakthrough moment, a time when the struggle of people of color and indigenous people is paramount. Isn’t it time to include the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in this discussion?
We support the just struggle of people of color against racism and discrimination in the US and the quest for equity and against discrimination around the globe. However, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict does not break down along color lines (https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-mazzig-mizrahi-jews-israel-20190520-story.html ; https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/01/trying-make-israel-vs-hamas-about-race-is-nonsensical-dangerous/ ; https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-don-t-confuse-the-struggle-of-african-americans-with-the-palestinian-struggle-1.8891600 ).
Aren’t Palestinians indigenous to that land?
Simple Answer: Yes, Palestinians are Indigenous to the land as are Israelis/Jews (https://browse.nypl.org/iii/encore/record/C__Rb22377822__STishby%2C%20Noa%2C%201977__Orightresult__X3?lang=eng&suite=def ).
More Complex Answer: Israel/Palestine lies at a crossroad between ancient great civilizations and (often rival-) empires. As such, peoples have migrated into and through Israel/Palestine for hundreds of thousands of years, complicating any question of which one is “indigenous.” Moreover, as the Holy Land, Jews, Christians, and Muslims have been migrating in and out of the land throughout the last several thousand years and up to the present time. The identities of the peoples of this land have, therefore, always been somewhat fluid and continue to be up through today.
So did Jews desert the Judean kingdom at some point, and therefore forfeit their right to the land?
Jews never deserted the land of Israel. Except for a brief 80 year hiatus in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE, Israel/Palestine was under continuous colonization by one empire after another from the middle of the first millennium BCE until 1948. Throughout that period, Jews were systematically deported and oppressed both inside and out of their ancient homeland (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_diaspora ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jerusalem ).
Over these 2700 years, some Israelites/Jews were forcibly expelled, others gave up in the face of systemic oppression, but always Jewish culture maintained a desire to return (viz., the motto shouted annually at the end of the Passover Seder: Next year in Jerusalem!). Eventually, they found their opportunity and started returning in large numbers at the end of the Ottoman Empire (end of 19th and beginning of 20th centuries).
Aren’t Israelis colonialists?
We learned a lot from Edward Said’s analysis of orientalism and colonialism. However, most Israelis are of Middle Eastern descent, and since they returned to their ancestral land (some from their diaspora in Europe, others from their diaspora in the Middle East and North Africa), they are not colonialists ( https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/is-israel-really-a-settler-colonial-state-1.9970098 ; https://doi.org/10.2979/israelstudies.24.2.03 ).
Unlike colonialists, they do not have a homeland elsewhere to which to return. Moreover, since more than half of Israel’s Jewish population are the descendants of Jews who migrated back to the land of Israel from the Middle East and North Africa, they are not European and do not represent European colonization of the Middle East; they continue an ancient culture that is native to this part of the world. Their language, sacred texts, and even names of people & places are uniquely Israeli/Hebrew/Jewish and based on the tradition and history of this place.
The suggestion to establish a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank refers to only a small part of historic Palestine. Don’t you think it is unfair that Palestinians are now offered a state on such a small portion of the land?
This suggested partition is based on the current population concentrations of the two people, but it stems from history, international resolutions, and recent developments (https://nypl.overdrive.com/media/1091510 https://browse.nypl.org/iii/encore/record/C__Rb22377822__STishby%2C%20Noa%2C%201977__Orightresult__X3?lang=eng&suite=def ).
This land does not belong only to the Palestinians who resided in it before the establishment of the state of Israel, and it should be divided between these Palestinians and others who lived in the land historically and until the present day, including the Jewish people. At the time of the rise of the Zionist movement, the land was sparsely populated, and most incoming Jews settled in desolated areas that they purchased and developed.
Let’s go back to the present and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem; aren’t Israelis trying to push the Palestinians out of East Jerusalem and the West Bank? Why is Israel pouring gasoline on this conflict by evicting the rightful residents of the houses in Sheikh Jarrah?
It’s true there are some Israeli extremists that do want to push Palestinians out of the West Bank and establish a larger Jewish state in the whole historic land of Israel/Palestine, but this is a small minority. Some Israeli leaders on the right have used these extremists to take actions that inflamed public opinion in order to win elections or remain in power in spite of an evenly split electorate. Yet the vast majority of Israeli Jews, even many right wing voters, actively support-, or acknowledge the necessity of- splitting the land into a separate Israeli and Palestinian states, while leaving the Palestinians in their current homes.
Why does Israel wall-in Palestinians, creating an open-air prison?
Israel has no wish to unnecessarily limit Palestinian mobility. Indeed, prior to the Intifadas (the Palestinian uprisings of 1987 and 2000) there were no borders or walls around the West Bank and the Gaza Strip; tens of thousands of Palestinians came to Israel each day to work, shop, and go to the beach. However, relentless suicide bomber attacks on Israeli civilians in buses, restaurants, offices, and hotels caused thousands of casualties. To prevent these suicide bomber from entering Israel, Israel put up a wall to separate the West Bank and Gaza Strip from Israel (https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-of-israel-s-security-fence ). The separation wall has been extremely effective in stopping suicide bombers, though it does hinder the movement of ordinary Palestinians.
Why is Israel occupying the Gaza Strip?
There is not a single Israeli soldier or civilian in the Gaza Strip. Israel had tried to establish working relations with the people of the Gaza Strip, but everyday connections were shut down after suicide bomber attacks inside Israel, terrorist attacks on the border checkpoints, and in factories in which both Jews and Palestinians worked. Following repeated attempts to bring weapons and ammunition into the Gaza Strip, both its eastern border with Israel and its southern border with Egypt were put under strict control by these two countries. Both Egypt and Israel try to control the passage of civilian goods in and out of the Gaza Strip to reduce the flow of weapons and material with military use.
Didn’t Israel start this latest cycle of violence?
No. Following the housing dispute in Sheikh Jarrah, Palestinians in East Jerusalem started rioting. As they were chased by police, they retreated into the Al Aqsa mosque (on the Temple Mount) while showering the police and nearby Jewish worshipers in the Western Wall (the last remnant of the Jewish Temple) with Molotov cocktail grenades and rocks. The police stopped these riots using stun grenades. While many Muslims were upset by this, the Hamas regime in Gaza (about 60 miles from Jerusalem) took it into a completely different level (https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-and-then-hamas-did-two-unexpected-things-israel-gaza-operation-1.9792147 ). Hamas started firing rockets on a wide range of Israeli towns around the Gaza Strip, targeting civilians all the way north to Tel Aviv and south-east to Beer Sheva. The firing of rockets from Gaza to Israel invoked the Israeli military response against Hamas’ rocket launching sites and command posts in Gaza, which also caused unfortunate civilian casualties (which was intensified due to Hamas’ use of Gazans as human shield). Being upset about legal conflicts in Jerusalem is understandable; using it as an excuse for indiscriminate shelling of Israel’s civilian population is not.
Why does Israel kill Palestinian civilians? Why are so many Palestinian civilians killed while only few Israelis are? Isn’t this indicative of an unfair balance of power?
We all grieve the harm caused to any civilian. The Israeli army goes to great length to avoid harming Palestinian civilians, and it can make mistakes of judgement regarding the impact of weapons, as happens in any conflict. However, the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip routinely uses civilians as human shield, building command posts and weapon depots under civilian houses, hospitals, and communication centers (https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/terrorism/pages/hamas-use-of-civilians-as-human-shields-20-jul-2014.aspx ; https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-fells-gaza-tower-used-by-media-outlets-says-it-housed-hamas-military-assets/ ).
Why should the American taxpayer support Israel with so much money? We do not want to support the use of our money for the purpose of the fight with the Palestinians.
Israel is given one of the largest portions of financial aid that the US government awards. The majority of aid is used to purchase of high-end stealth aircrafts (https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/09/15/F-35-Gets-Big-Win-Israel-Scores-38-Billion-US-Military-Aid ; https://www.bbc.com/news/57170576 ), which is in America’s regional interest of positioning itself against Iran (a policy supported by representatives of both parties in Congress and the White House). Many in America support the right of Israel to defend itself from destruction by terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah, both proxy powers that receive much of their funding from Iran. A number of other countries receive similarly large aid packages (Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and others). In practice, these aid packages are not always perfectly used by any of these countries. The excessive, disproportionate criticism of Israeli use of the monetary aid suggests that other, more sinister motives are behind this criticism.
Isn’t Zionism a bad word?
No, Zionism only means that one is in support of the idea that Jews should have a national homeland in their ancestral land (https://doi.org/10.2979/israelstudies.24.2.10 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/myths-and-facts-roots ). Zion is a term that refers to both the city of Jerusalem and the historic land of Israel (without specific borders). Most Zionists foresee living in Israel alongside a Palestinian state. Some Jewish extremists push the concept of an Israeli state that comes at the expense of a Palestinian state, but this extreme form of Zionism is certainly not indicative of mainstream Zionism. Just as Liberals and Feminists refuse to be defined by the extreme interpretation of their motives by their opponents, Israelis stick to the mainstream positive definition of the term Zionism, which is inclusive and promotes a peaceful and respectful coexistence alongside Palestinians. This is similar to what we see in the US: Most Americans, from both parties, see themselves as American patriots. This does not mean that they all endorse everything that all US governments say or do. Just as we expect that not all Americans will be viewed as supporting everything that a given US president says or does, Israelis and Zionists (i.e., people who support Israel’s right to exist) are also not uniform in their goals and attitudes.
Isn’t Israel an Apartheid state?
No, Israel is not an Apartheid state (https://doi.org/10.2979/israelstudies.24.2.06 ). The Palestinians who stayed in Israel after the 1948 war of Israeli independence (and did not flee during the Naqba) have full civil rights. While there are difficulties, as in all multi-ethnic countries, Arab citizens of Israel are members of Parliament, participate in the coalition & government, and hold top/senior positions in the Supreme Court (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Karra ), medicine, academia, civil service, banks (https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-1st-arab-head-of-major-israeli-bank-breaking-down-barriers-is-second-nature/ ), finance, and industry (https://www.israel21c.org/16-arabs-from-israel-making-a-difference-on-the-world-stage/ ). There is no restriction on religion or the use of the Arabic language. Arab citizens are not required to sing the national anthem or fly the Israeli flag. There is still road ahead and more equality to achieve, but Israel’s behavior is not different than that of other liberal democracies.
Why do Jews need their own state anyhow? Why can’t there be a joint, non-denominational country with no affiliation to any religious roots (like the US)?
The Jewish people have inherited an ancient Middle Eastern culture in which peoplehood and religion were not entirely distinct. This was also the case for other ancient peoples of the region, such as the Moabites, Ammonites, and Arameans, to name but a few. For this reason, Jews can be defined as both a people and a religion, with some Jews identifying more with one or the other aspect of this identity. In any case, the religious aspect of Jewish identity has never negated their identity as a people, and as a people Jews have yearned for 2600 years for independence in their ancient homeland. This yearning is emblemized in Psalm 137 which famously laments, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.” Indeed, Messianism, at its core, is a desire for the reestablishment of an independent kingdom in Israel. The Hebrew “mashiach” (=messiah) means to annoint, and it was how the ancient Israelite kings were coronated as king.
Many times, Israeli statements seem to stifle the discussion, using the Holocaust card and using the advanced gay rights in Israel to pink-wash their immoral behavior. Why do Israelis keep bringing these hollow arguments?
The Holocaust is not a card Israelis play; it is a deep national trauma that symbolizes the epitome of cataclysmic persecutions and repeated attempts throughout history to annihilate Jews. It is like a national PTSD syndrome that continues through generations. In the holistic perspective, this collective trauma affects the nation’s state of mind, like the intergenerational communal Soul Wound that UCLA and Native-American psychologist Eduardo Duran has theorized for Native Americans. But unlike PTSD, it is not based on experiences that are only in the past, and like an unhealed soul wound the pain is intensified with repeated injury. To this day, Hamas, which exercises a regime of intolerance and violence in the Gaza Strip, declares it wants to push the Jews out to the sea (their slogan is “From the (Jordan-) River to the (Mediterranean-) Sea, Palestine will be free” ).
Going back to the PSC-CUNY resolution; I am confused by all these competing narratives. What should the Union do now? Should PSC-CUNY pull back from involvement in this and other international conflicts?
This resolution presents a gross over-simplification that reduces a complex conflict to a Disney-like narrative. Important sections of the resolution were proposed and passed in haste without discussion. Smart and dedicated operators on both sides have been trying to resolve this intricate conflict for a very long time. It is presumptuous for an American Labor organization to claim that it understands this complex conflict better than those involved and resolve it. This shallow oversimplification is an embarrassment to CUNY as an academic institution focused on providing access to excellence in scholarly analysis.
The misappropriation of the American struggle for social and racial justice in the US to this conflict (along with fabricated claims of color differences and colonialism) reduces our credibility and blurs our message on fighting systemic racism in the US. We need to refocus the outreach of our labor union on social justice, anti-racism, equity, and inclusion within our community in CUNY, NYC, and our country.
Be all this as it may, isn’t BDS a movement for equal rights to Palestinians? BDS worked against South Africa, why wouldn’t it work here as well?
BDS only forces the state being boycotted to capitulate to the other side, it doesn't determine the terms of that capitulation. Regarding South Africa, the terms of the ANC (African National Congress) were an end to apartheid and equal rights for everyone. So, BDS against South Africa forced the government to end apartheid and give equal rights. In contrast, the terms of Hamas are the annihilation and/or expulsion of all Jews from all of Israel/Palestine (https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bds-in-their-own-words ; https://doi.org/10.2979/israelstudies.24.2.18 ; see also excerpts from pro-BDS demonstrations at CUNY in our Climate of Hostility section). So, those are the ends to which BDS against Israel is working, regardless of the good intentions of some of its advocates. It's that simple. Applying Ibram Kendi's thesis from his book, How to Be an Anti-Racist, intentions don't matter, policies do. So, even if the intentions of some BDS advocates may not be anti-Semitic, in reality, the ends to which they are working are the annihilation of Israel's Jewish population so long as those are Hamas's goals.
So what does CAFI stand for?
The misguided condemnation of Israel impedes PSC CUNY’s ability to tackle the things that we really care about. CAFI calls for union members to stand together and promote the core values & causes of liberal labor unions. These are:
Improving the working conditions, compensation, and benefits of CUNY employees; Making sure instructors on tenure track are not subject to intimidation and excessive pressures, and are given the means to succeed in tenure and promotion; Making sure that adjunct instructors are given a fair workload and are given the best chances to continue their employment; making sure that staff is fairly compensated, promoted, and kept safe; Making sure that people employed in CUNY through outside service companies, such as some janitors, are offered fair compensation, safety, and fair working conditions.
Creating a working and teaching environment that promotes upward mobility for all employees and students.
Promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in CUNY. Facilitating the participation and promotion of women, minorities, and people from disadvantaged backgrounds in academic and professional life in CUNY and beyond. Supporting free expression of personal identity, and the fight against implicit and explicit discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical and mental disability
Keeping CUNY free of harassment and intimidation by allowing CUNY employees to peacefully support causes of their choice in the US and around the world without being afraid of harassment and intimidation by coworkers who take a different view on these issues.
Promoting the causes of all residents of NYC, regardless of immigration status.
Why should we even continue talking about this PSC CUNY resolution, isn’t this resolution already in the past?
No, this resolution is a constant source of vilification, harassment and intimidation for many Jews and Israel supporters throughout CUNY. People who support Israel were viciously attacked and harmed on the basis of these opinions, as this statement amounts to implicit incitement to act against Jews and Israel supporters. Students were barred from participation in student activities and harassed in class (see student testimonies on our web site). Junior faculty members are concerned about their prospects of promotion. We have all seen how implicit incitement leads to real violence. We need to create a safe space for everyone in CUNY, and fight against the demonization, intimidation, and bias-against anyone in CUNY, including Jews and Israel supporters. We must repeal the PSC CUNY resolution on Palestine.