Law students at New York University voted to oust Student Bar Association president Ryna Workman over her response to the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians.
The move comes after Workman wrote in a weekly newsletter after the attack that “Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life.” She also refused to “condemn Palestinian resistance,” arguing “this regime of state-sanctioned violence created conditions that made resistance necessary.”
The online vote, which was triggered by a “no confidence” petition signed by 25 percent of the student body, closed Wednesday after being held open for a week. Of the 1,176 students who voted, 707 said Workman should not remain in office, while 428 voted to retain Workman and 41 abstained. […]
Soon after [Workman’s comments], NYU Law’s SBA issued a message saying its members “did not write, approve, or see this message before it was published,” nor did they “hold discussions about whether to issue a public statement about the conflict or the content of any potential statement.” The letter goes on to state that the SBA board initiated Workman’s removal as president, which requires a majority vote of the entire law school student body.
The student said that the SBA’s hearings on whether to oust Workman — which it mentioned in its message — were “never able to happen because all SBA members resigned.” Instead, the entire NYU Law School student body voted Workman out, in accordance with the university’s bylaws. (National Review)
When given the opportunity to retract her comments, Workman refused, telling ABC News she "will continue to speak up for Palestinian human rights and use whatever platform I have available to me to call for a ceasefire and end this occupation that's harming the Palestinians.”
The same day, Workman, who also had her job offer rescinded, was filmed defacing posters of kidnapped Israelis.