An international law firm will not be hiring the NYU Law School Bar Association student president after he made a series of inflammatory comments regarding the Hamas attack on Israel over the weekend.
Ryna Workman declared “unwavering“ solidarity with Palestinians in a school-wide newsletter.
“I want to express, first and foremost, my unwavering and absolute solidarity with Palestinians in their resistance against oppression toward liberation and self-determination,” Workman wrote in an excerpt that has since been shared on social media.
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The remarks continued, “Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life. This regime of state-sanctioned violence created the conditions that made resistance necessary. I will not condemn Palestinian resistance.”
Workman went on to condemn the violence of apartheid, settler colonialism, military occupation, dispossession, stolen homes, and an entire litany of accusations against the Israeli government. Workman did not condemn the violence of Hamas that has ignited warfare and has killed more than a thousand Palestinian and Israeli people.
Winston & Strawn LLP, a firm that has offices in New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C., London, Hong Kong, Paris, and Shanghai, took note of Workman’s comments, causing them to rescind an employment offer to their company in a tweet from its corporate X profile.
— Winston & Strawn LLP (@WinstonLaw) October 10, 2023
The firm stated their office “learned that a former summer associate published certain inflammatory comments regarding Hamas’ recent terrorist attack on Israel and distributed it to the NYU Student Bar Association. These comments are profoundly in conflict with Winston & Strawn’s values as a firm. Accordingly, the law firm has rescinded the law student’s offer of employment.”
Also noted was that a communication was sent to “all Winston personnel” that, as a company, they “remain outraged and deeply saddened by the violent attack” and standing “in solidarity with Israel’s right to exist in peace,” condemning unequivocally Hamas and the destruction it has caused.
New York University released a statement reprimanding Workman on the school’s website.
“The statement issued by the president of the Student Bar Association does not in any way reflect the point of view of NYU, which condemns the terrorist attack on Israel,” the statement read.
“Acts of terrorism are immoral. The indiscriminate killing of civilians and hostage-taking, including children and the elderly, is reprehensible. Blaming victims of terrorism for their own deaths is wrong,” the comment concluded.
Following the Oct. 7 attack, over 1,200 fatalities and 2,900 injuries have been recorded.
Palestinian authorities confirm 1,055 deaths and 5,184 injuries in Gaza from Israeli retaliation to the Hamas attacks. Since 2008, the United Nations has reported roughly 6,400 Palestinian and 300 Israeli casualties, excluding recent incidents.
It will only get worse, as Israel has declared war on Hamas and is striking the occupied territory of Gaza, increasing the likelihood of further widespread destruction and casualties.
