CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Challenged By Demonstrator At U.S. House Of Representatives

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In a video first published by @PulseofPal on Instagram, a young female demonstrator was dragged out of U.S. House of a Representatives Committee on Education and Workforce hearing in Washington D.C. regarding “campus antisemitism” after shouting at CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos, who was testifying. The Pro-Palestinian demonstrator said: “How can you sit there talking about the feelings of Jewish students, when there are no universities left in Gaza? There’s blood on your hands! You are a genocidal war criminal!”

“How can you sit there talking about the feelings of Jewish students, when there are no universities left in Gaza? There’s blood on your hands! You are a genocidal war criminal!”
— Young Woman

@CCNYSJP (Students for Justice in Palestine at the City College of New York) responded with more footage of the student’s message during the Congressional Hearing on “Antisemitism on College Campuses” from other angles. That footage has been republished in this arrticle.

Said @CCNYSJP: “We the students reject the conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism. While Congress and universities distract the public with their propaganda, our tax dollars and tuition continue to fund the genocide of the Palestinian people. While they sit discussing ‘feelings,’ there are no universities left in Gaza.

“We demand our students and faculty are reinstated. We demand divestment. We will not be silenced.”

“We the students reject the conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism. While Congress and universities distract the public with their propaganda, our tax dollars and tuition continue to fund the genocide of the Palestinian people. While they sit discussing ‘feelings,’ there are no universities left in Gaza.”
— CCNYSJP

Prior to this hearing, SUNY BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions) issued a press release stating their participation in a rally in NYC set to happen outside a summit that Chancelor Matos was supposed to be attending, but was “skipping the summit in order to capitulate to the federal government,” they said. “He will be in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, testifying before Congress that CUNY has sufficiently repressed Palestinian solidarity activism.”

This demonstrator was vocalizing at that hearing in Washington D.C. while SUNY BDS and CUNY students demonstrated against both chancellors in NYC. Read about their plans here.

Pro-Palestinian CUNY and SUNY Organizers Picket Center For An Urban Future 2nd Annual NYC Economic Mobility Summit

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Update: “CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Challenged By Demonstrator At U.S. House Of Representatives”

###Press Release Printed In Full From SUNY BDS###

“This Tuesday, on July 15th at 10AM EST, a group of CUNY and SUNY organizers will join together to picket outside of The Center for an Urban Future’s second annual NYC Economic Mobility Summit on 150 West 17th Street.”

“Both the CUNY (Felix Matos) and SUNY (John King) chancellors are scheduled to speak at the summit on “How Can NYC Advance Economic Mobility Amid Harmful Federal Policies?” However, the CUNY chancellor is skipping the summit in order to capitulate to the federal government. He will be in Washington DC on Tuesday, testifying before Congress that CUNY has sufficiently repressed Palestinian solidarity activism.”

“We will gather outside of the NYC Economic Mobility Summit to show our chancellors what fighting back against the federal government really means. To truly resist fascism means to defend your students, staff, and faculty in their first amendment rights and protect them from militarized police forces, ICE, and DHS. It means standing against the US-funded israeli genocide of Palestinians by divesting from israel and weapons manufacturing companies.”

“We will begin our picket at the time CUNY chancellor Felix Matos begins his testimony before Congress, while his counterpart, SUNY chancellor John King, talks about how to resist this same federal government. Our goal is to reiterate our shared demands to those in leadership at our universities and the people of New York State, whose taxes fund our universities. These demands are:"

  • Disclose foundation investments

  • Divest from weapons manufacturers and technology committing this genocide

  • Amnesty for protestors and protection for non-citizen students/staff/faculty

  • Replace the BOT with democratic, collective student-faculty-worker-community governance”

SUNY Schools BDS Globalize the Intifada: International Solidarity Panel, July 19

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This Friday, on July 19th at 11am est, SUNY BDS will be hosting an international panel with participants around the globe to discuss the student movement in support of Palestine. Since the beginning of israel’s genocide, we have seen that complicit rulers and capitalists stand on the side of israel while peoples of the world and students continue to stand up for Palestine. It is time we bring together all our movements for a stronger and more coherent resistance against Zionism and imperialism internationally!

Following the massacres committed by the Zionist entity upon innocent men, women, and children, students across the world have joined forces to take an unconditional stance in solidarity with Palestine. The unconscionable human rights violations committed with our taxpayer money– with our complicity –demands that we fight and do our part for the Palestinian liberation movement.

Just as SUNY BDS strives to bring together the 64 SUNY schools in New York state, we are hosting this panel to bring this effort to a global audience. We witnessed in the past 9 months how student organizers become more empowered and successful when allowed to organize in spheres with like-minded comrades. This panel will be a first step to truly Globalizing the Intifada.

Our panel will include students who organize and fight for Palestine on 4 continents:

  • SUNY BDS (New York)

  • Columbia University (New York)

  • Özgür Üniversite Hareketi (Türkiye)

  • Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS)

  • Students for Palestine (Netherlands)

  • American University of Beirut (AUB) SJP Lebanon

  • University of Tokyo Komaba Campus Encampment

  • Glasgow University Ghassan for Rector, Scotland, UK

Students will be sharing their experiences from their respective countries, discuss the state of the Palestine solidarity movement across the world, and think about ways to develop our coordination as the struggle continues. We invite everyone to join the conversation in a spirit of international solidarity that we will advance going forward!

Registration here >

**SUNY BDS is proudly not affiliated with SUNY or NYS