It took the City University of New York (CUNY) nearly three weeks to do it, but the public university’s chancellor and board of trustees eventually got around to condemning an antisemitic speech made at the CUNY Law School graduation ceremony on May 12.

The oration was delivered by graduating student Fatima Mousa Mohammed of Queens, N.Y., a member of Students for Justice in Palestine, the activist wing of the antisemitic BDS movement. In it, she uttered egregious lies about Israel and Zionists but anchored her attacks on the Jewish state in far-left talking points about the evils of capitalism, imperialism, colonialism and “white supremacy.” She railed against the police as well as the federal prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation, which served as fundraisers for the Hamas terrorist group. She spoke of the mission of the future lawyers getting their degrees that day as waging an ongoing battle against the rule of law.

Mohammed received a rousing ovation from the graduating students that was reportedly joined in by school officials. But once the video of the 12-minute speech went viral, it generated angry pushback from Jewish organizations and politicians.

The criticism was appropriate. Mohammed claimed that: “Israel continues to indiscriminately rain bullets and bombs on worshippers, murdering the old, the young, attacking even funerals and graveyards, as it encourages lynch mobs to target Palestinian homes and businesses, as it imprisons its children, as it continues its project of settler colonialism, expelling Palestinians from their homes, carrying the ongoing nakba, that our silence is no longer acceptable.”

Her claims would better describe the actions of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad than that of Israel. But this does illustrate just how antisemitic canards and calls for the destruction of the only Jewish state on the planet have become mainstream discourse in academia.

The school initially pulled the video from its website but then restored it when left-wing activists condemned it for bowing to pressure from Zionists and conservatives. But as the story gained momentum, the CUNY board realized that it had to distance itself from the incident. Likely, they are hoping that will be the end of it as far as they are concerned.

It shouldn’t be. The speech was just the most recent in a string of stories that pointed to the way CUNY has become a stronghold of far-left ideology and antisemitism. But for all of the criticisms that the event caused to be aimed at the school, the remedies that have been proposed in response to it are utterly inadequate.

Accountability then must involve more than superficial gestures. What is needed is a response that is, on the surface, just as radical as the problem it is seeking to address. And for that, we have an excellent example in Florida.

Earlier this month, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that would defund all DEI programs at Florida public colleges. Unlike most of those who have noted the dismal state of affairs in academia, DeSantis wasn’t content to snipe away from the sidelines. Instead, he cut straight to the heart of the problem.

The time has passed for Jewish groups to content themselves with statements complaining about such incidents. If they are to be taken seriously as opponents of antisemitism, then they must demand the defunding of all schools that engage in DEI indoctrination that helps generate this sort of open hatred. DeSantis and those who support his much-needed counterattack on the forces seeking to impose radicalism on students are accused of fighting a “culture war,” though it is the left that started the war on Western culture. But anyone who is interested in combating antisemitism must join this war. The only way to make a difference is to insist on defunding institutions that foster hatred.

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