CAIR-NY Calls on Le Moyne College President to Apologize After Condemnation of Palestinian Poet’s Use of Word ‘Genocide’
(NEW YORK, NY, 4/29/2026) - The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY), a chapter of the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on Le Moyne College’s President Linda LeMura after her condemnation of a Palestinian poet’s description of Israel’s crimes in Gaza as a "genocide.”
Le Moyne College President Linda LeMura sent a letter to students this week condemning the language used by Pulitzer Prize winning Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha during an April 15 guest lecture, specifically his use of the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Responding to the letter, Abu Toha said: “It is utterly ridiculous to begin a letter by stating that your institution welcomes the "free exchange of ideas," only to immediately condemn a speaker, not for sharing abstract ideas, but for sharing his own life. I still carry the physical wounds of a 2009 airstrike on my neck, my forehead, and my cheek. My wife and I have lost over one hundred relatives, most of them children. Some of them have still not been buried.”
Israeli forces slaughtered more than 75,000 people, mostly women and children, in Gaza. It is likely the true death toll is much higher. Israel also destroyed most of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and forcibly-displaced almost its entire population while waging a campaign of forced starvation. The medical journal The Lancet said that some 186,000 may have died since the invasion. The Israeli journal Haaretz has reported that thousands of Palestinians remained trapped under rubble in Gaza.
SEE: Research shows Gaza death toll higher than reported – Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Israeli human rights group B’Tselem have called Israel’s action a genocide.
SEE: Amnesty concludes Israel is committing genocide in Gaza
SEE ALSO: Israel’s Crime of Extermination, Acts of Genocide in Gaza | Human Rights Watch
SEE ALSO: For first time, two leading Israeli human rights groups accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza | CNN
In a statement, CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher said:
“President LeMura’s letter condemning a genocide survivor for describing what he and other Palestinians experienced at the hands of Israel as a genocide is deeply insulting. There are few things more immoral than attacking the victims of a genocide while doing nothing to oppose or condemn the perpetrator. President LeMura should immediately recant her statement and learn from Palestinians who have experienced firsthand the reality of Israel’s genocide.”CAIR-NY's mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR-NY es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT
Afaf Nasher, Esq. CAIR-NY Executive Director, ANasher@cair.com
CAIR-NY Communications Team, comms@ny.cair.com