Radhika Sainath quoted in the Wall Street Journal
/The following is an excerpt from an article published in the Wall Street Journal on March 16, 2016. To view the full article, visit wsj.com here.
Fight Over CUNY Funding Takes Unforeseen Turn
In budget proposal, New York state Senate criticizes school’s response to alleged anti-Semitism
By Mike Vilensky
It came as no surprise this week when New York’s Senate backed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to cut state funding to the City University of New York.
Few in Albany were prepared, however, when the Senate, in its own budget proposal, criticized CUNY’s handling of alleged anti-Semitism.
In light of the issue, the Senate said it is denying funding until it is satisfied with the school’s response “and this difficult and atrocious situation is adequately addressed.”
That budget proposal, issued Monday from the Senate’s Republican majority, has seemed to draw every imaginable reaction: an anxious response from CUNY, outrage from Democrats, praise from a Zionist group, concern from First Amendment attorneys and even dissent from within the GOP’s ranks.
“It was breathtakingly shocking to me,” said Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat opposed to the cuts. “This was one giant ‘what the heck?’ moment.”
....
Radhika Sainath, an attorney at Palestinian advocacy organization Palestine Legal who is advising Students for Justice in Palestine, said the Zionist Organization of America “conflates political speech criticizing Israeli policy with genuine anti-Semitism,” and inaccurately pinned “some instances of real anti-Semitism” on Palestinian activists.