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<\/a><\/p>\nStudents and others at City College of New York participate in a pro-Palestinian encampment on their West Harlem campus on April 26, 2024. (Spencer Platt\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The incident took place last week and was first reported Wednesday by the Times of Israel, which obtained a recording of the event hosted by the college\u2019s Office of Student Inclusion Initiatives.<\/p>\n
The imam let loose a series of remarks about Shariah law and \u201cthe filthy rich\u201d before stating, \u201cI came here to this event not knowing that I would be sitting next to a Zionist and this is something I\u2019m not going to accept. My people are being killed right now in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
He then added, \u201cIf you\u2019re a Muslim, out of strength and dignity, I ask you to exit this room immediately.\u201d Roughly 100 Muslim students followed him out the door, according to the report, and the chaplain hosting the event expressed disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not dialogue \u2014 it is harassment,\u201d the Anti-Defamation League\u2019s New York chapter wrote on the social network X. The chapter\u2019s director Scott Richman called the incident \u201ca truly disgusting display of raw antisemitism not only by the imam but by the huge crowd of people there for an interfaith event who followed him out the door because a Jew was present.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe unequivocally condemn this gross display of antisemitism at City College of New York,\u201d the Nexus Project, a progressive-leaning antisemitism watchdog group, wrote on social media.<\/p>\n
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul blasted the walkout as \u201cantisemitism, plain and simple,\u201d adding, \u201cNo one should be singled out, targeted, or shamed because they are Jewish.\u201d She urged the City University of New York, the public university system that includes the campus, \u201cto act swiftly to ensure accountability and protect every student\u2019s safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hochul\u2019s Republican opponent in next year\u2019s governor race, Rep. Elise Stefanik, called CUNY \u201ca hotbed of antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n
The federal Department of Justice, which has used its authority to pressure universities to quash antisemitism, also has an eye on the situation. \u201cThis is deeply concerning,\u201d tweeted Associate Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. \u201c@CivilRights has questions and will look into this!\u201d<\/p>\n
The Hillel at City College, in an email to members, wrote, \u201cOur concern is with one individual\u2019s extremist rhetoric\u2014not with Islam, not with Muslim students, and not with interfaith engagement itself.\u201d It added that it was confident that City College would \u201crespond appropriately\u201d to the incident.<\/p>\n
CUNY said it was aware of the incident and was investigating.<\/p>\n
Jewish Insider later identified the Muslim speaker, who had identified himself only as \u201cAbdullah\u201d on the recording, as Abdullah Mady, a recent psychology graduate of the school who stayed on to pursue a master\u2019s degree in medical translation. In a biography published online by his department, accompanied by a photograph in which he is wearing a keffiyeh, Mady says he aims to become a doctor.<\/p>\n
Ilya Bratman, who runs the Hillel that serves City College as well as several other local public and private schools, told the Times of Israel that he was in attendance but that there were not many other Jewish students present because the Hillel had been hosting a talk with a Holocaust survivor in another room in the same building.<\/p>\n
One Jewish student who was in attendance told the moderator after the walkout, \u201cYou\u2019re in shock? We\u2019re not, we\u2019re used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n