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Anti-Israel Activist to Deliver CUNY Commencement

Linda Sarsour / Getty Images
April 24, 2017

The City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School of Public Health will welcome prominent Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour as its commencement speaker this spring.

Sarsour, who once claimed "nothing is creepier than Zionism," will deliver the address during the first week of June, according to Fox News.

Barbara Aaron, chief of staff to the school's dean, made the announcement, saying, "I am delighted to confirm that Linda Sarsour will indeed speak at our June 1 commencement at the Apollo Theater."

But the announcement was not welcome news to some in New York.

"She is someone who associates with radical Islamists. She is someone who has said, clearly, she thinks throwing rocks at cars in Israel is a good thing," Democratic state Assemblyman Dov Hikind said.

Sarsour has continuously shared controversial statements, tweeting that "Nothing is creepier than Zionism," and stating feminists could not support Zionism.

Sarsour has appeared to praise throwing rocks at Israelis, once tweeting, "The definition of courage. #Palestine," with an image of a child wielding rocks and staring at uniformed police in the background.

She has also called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "waste of a human being," and publicly denounced Netanyahu and President Donald Trump as two "bigoted peas in a hateful pod."

Following the capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Sarsour said she was "hurt" and expressed her gratitude for Hussein's support for Palestine.

"I think he's done a lot of things he shouldn't have done, but I was hurt," she said. "My Arab pride was hurt. Palestinians are under so much oppression and no other Arab country ever helped them."