Fatima Mousa Mohammed broke her silence on a CUNY Law commencement speech which critics called "evil," "anti-American," "anti-Semitic" and a "blatant call for insurrection."
"I would not change a single word of my speech—and I would say it louder," Mohammed told Jewish Currents on Wednesday. The law grad complained that she was being subjected to harassment and getting threats, which were impacting her studies for the New York Bar.
"I was trying to study for the bar exam while getting comments like, ‘I can’t wait until we’re at your funeral’ and ‘I would pay to see you get killed,'" she said.
During her speech, Mohammed called the U.S. military and NYPD "fascist." She added there was a covert revolution ongoing, adding, "the masses, those who brought the ferocity of the violence, those who need our protection. They will carry this revolution."
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It was denounced by prominent leaders on the left and right. For example, a progressive Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said the speech was "[a]nti-Israel derangement syndrome at work."
Mohammed said she believed the pushback against her speech was to "stifle, censor, and intimidate me away from Palestine organizing."
She then invoked a defense of another CUNY Law graduate Nerdeen Kiswani, who has been critiqued after threatening to light a man's Israel Defense Force sweatshirt on fire.
"Overall, this kind of repression happens because there’s an exception to Palestinian rights, even in liberal spaces. There is this notion that Palestine is a radioactive subject, and that if you approach it, there will be consequences that are exceptional," Mohammed said.
The backlash Mohammed received for her speech was surprising, she said.
"As a student organizer, I understand that there are powers that dedicate time, energy, and resources into stifling student activism on campus, because of how powerful it is—students have historically led revolutions. However, I could not have anticipated the escalation and the scale of the campaign that I was subjected to. I did not think that CUNY would come out and say that my speech, which was approved by CUNY Law, was 'hate speech.'"
Mohammed also spoke out against the treatment of "Palestinian political prisoners like HLF in U.S. prisons."
HLF, or the Holy Land Foundation, was a Texas-based charity that "existed to support Hamas," a designated terror group by the U.S. State Department, according to the DOJ.
The Department of Justice convicted the defendants on material support of terrorism in 2009 after it found that "HLF intentionally hid its financial support for Hamas behind the guise of charitable donations" and "provided approximately $12.4 million in support to Hamas and its goal of creating an Islamic Palestinian state by eliminating the State of Israel through violent jihad."
Numerous activist groups and a city council member demanded Mohammed be denied the ability to practice law on the basis of their belief she fails on "character and fitness."
For example, the Lawfare Project appealed to the New York Supreme Court, stating, "It's our belief that a person who has proved themselves to be a bigot is not fit to practice law."
They added that "Mohammed has a history of publicly expressing prejudiced and discriminatory views, specifically demonstrating a profound animosity towards the Jewish community."
Other organizations, which collectively represent 10,000 attorneys, demanded the American Bar Association launch an immediate investigation to determine whether CUNY Law School’s accreditation should be revoked.
"Mohammad’s speech did not occur in a vacuum and was not an isolated incident. That her remarks were reviewed and pre-approved by CUNY Law School, only underscores that the school has cultivated a deliberate and dangerous staging ground for the systematic promotion of antisemitism," said the June 12 letter from The International Legal Forum, together with the National Jewish Advocacy Center and the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists.
CUNY Law declined to offer a comment. Mohammed was contacted for comment and a response was not immediately provided.
Fox News' Yael Halon contributed to this report.
