The City University of New York has quietly re-posted a Palestinian studies professorship job listing for Hunter College just weeks after Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered it be deleted — in an eyebrow-raising move that has been blasted as whitewashing.
Hochul demanded the taxpayer-funded Manhattan college remove the controversial posting last month after The Post revealed CUNY had started advertising for a scholar who was concerned with “settler colonialism, genocide human rights [and] apartheid.”
Now, a revised job posting has since appeared on the Upper East Side institution’s website — with key tweaks.
The City University of New York has quietly re-posted a Palestinian studies professorship job listing for Hunter College — absent of the phrases settler colonialism, genocide human rights [and] apartheid.” CUNY“We are open to diverse theoretical and methodological approaches and seek historically grounded candidates who take a critical lens to issues pertaining to Palestine, who are interested in public-facing work, and who exhibit a commitment to being part of the life of the college, a diverse and dynamic public and majority-minority undergraduate serving institution,” the new job ad states.
It is a slight shift from the original ad, which called for “a historically grounded scholar who takes a critical lens to issues pertaining to Palestine including but not limited to: settler colonialism, genocide, human rights, apartheid, migration, climate and infrastructure devastation, health, race, gender and sexuality.”
“As planned, Hunter College last week re-posted its job posting for a scholar to teach and do research in the social sciences, humanities and arts related to Palestine and Palestinian history and culture to fill longstanding gaps in the college’s curriculum and faculty expertise,” a Hunter College spokesperson told The Post Thursday of the change.
A Hochul spokesperson responded, “At Governor Hochul’s direction, CUNY and Hunter College have conducted a thorough review of this job posting to ensure that the offensive language used in the original listing is not being promoted in the classroom. The Governor will always condemn and root out antisemitism and all forms of hate wherever it arises to ensure that every New Yorker can worship, study, and live freely in our state.”
Asked if the Palestinian Studies program itself is slanted against Israel and maligns Jews, the spokesperson referred us to the governor’s original statement that called on CUNY to conduct a review to ensure that “antisemitic theories are not promoted in the classroom.”
Meanwhile, the curious editing didn’t sit well with some on campus.
“This is one of the greatest ruses that CUNY has ever pulled off — and that’s saying a lot,” said school professor Jeffrey Lax, who founded the CUNY Students, Alumni and Faculty for Equality on Campus.
Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered the original job ad be deleted last month amid concerns it demonized Israel and would spark antisemitic backlash. Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul“The course is exactly the same,” Lax fumed. “The course is based on three things: colonial settlerism, apartheid and genocide. It’s the ultimate modern-day blood libel against the Jews.”
Former CUNY trustee Jeffrey Wiesenfeld called it a “whitewash.”
“It’s a polemicist operation,” he said. “It’s about undermining the historic rights of Jewish people. It’s total nonsense.
“The basis of such coursework is to undermine the reality of the Jews’ ties to their land for over 3,000 years,” Wiesenfeld added. “Nothing more, nothing less. These are the same people who opine that Jesus was a Palestinian.”
Hochul demanded the taxpayer-funded Manhattan college remove the controversial posting last month after The Post revealed CUNY’s Hunter College had started advertising for the position. Ajay Suresh via Wikimedia Commons/Creative CommonsLiora Rez, the executive director of advocacy group StopAntisemitism, ripped the re-reposting as “shameful.”
“This is doing nothing but putting lipstick on a pig and merely removing a few buzzwords is just a shameful attempt to dodge accountability,” Rez seethed.
“This position should be pulled completely and, once again, StopAntisemitism calls for the resignation of Chancellor Felix Matos-Rodriguez,” she continued.
“New Yorkers’ taxpayer dollars should not be going towards propagandizing our young people to hate, target, and abuse their fellow students who happen to be Jewish or Israeli. The antisemitic and anti-Israel faculty has been a big driver in turning out the violent demonstrations that have plagued our campuses. It is a scandal that public funds are feeding this monster.”
Gov. Hochul quickly intervened after the original post sparked backlash, with critics and Jewish watchdog groups arguing it promotes hateful instruction at the Big Apple’s public university.
“Governor Hochul has directed CUNY to immediately remove this job posting and conduct a thorough review of the position to ensure that antisemitic theories are not promoted in the classroom,” a Hochul spokesperson told The Post last month.
“The Governor has continued to strongly condemn all forms of antisemitism and has made clear that hateful rhetoric of any kind has no place at CUNY or anywhere in New York State.”
CUNY officials, at the time, said they “strongly agreed” with Hochul’s call.
“We find this language divisive, polarizing and inappropriate and strongly agree with Governor Hochul’s direction to remove this posting, which we have ensured Hunter College has since done,” Chancellor Felix Matos and Board of Trustees Chairperson William Thompson said in a joint statement.
“CUNY will continue working with the Governor and other stakeholders to tackle antisemitism on our campuses and combat hate in all of its forms.”
Additional reporting by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon






