Law firm rescinds job offer after NYU law student blames Hamas’ attack on Israel
The New York University flag flies on a campus building. Photo by jpellgen/Flickr
By Camillo Barone October 11, 2023
A law firm rescinded a job offer to the president of the Student Bar Association of New York University’s law school after the student wrote that Israel “bears full responsibility for the tremendous loss of life” after Hamas’ attack.
“I will not condemn Palestinian resistance,” wrote Ryna Workman, 24, who goes by they/them pronouns, in a school-wide newsletter. Workman’s words were then posted to social media, where they drew widespread rebuke, including from Jewish groups and members of Congress. Some on X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote that no firm should hire Workman and that state bars should not accept them.
If you are speaking to an Israeli mother whose child has been beheaded, I cannot think of anything more callous and cruel than telling a grieving mother: you had it coming. You and your people brought the beheading upon yourselves.
That is essentially what the President of the… pic.twitter.com/0RezaADV3d— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) October 10, 2023
Winston & Strawn LLP on Tuesday announced that it had withdrawn Workman’s employment offer on X. “These comments are profoundly in conflict with Winston & Strawn’s values as a firm,” it wrote. “Winston stands in solidarity with Israel’s right to exist in peace and condemns Hamas and the violence and destruction it has unleashed in the strongest possible terms.”
It added: “Our hearts go out to our Jewish colleagues, their families, and all those affected.”
— Winston & Strawn LLP (@WinstonLaw) October 10, 2023
Hamas’ attacks, which began on Saturday, have so far killed more than 1,200 Israelis. More than 900 Palestinians have died in the conflict.
Workman had worked at Winston & Strawn, which has offices in 16 cities in the U.S. and abroad, as a summer associate before they were offered a full-time job
NYU responds
They may also lose their leadership of the Student Bar Association. Its board on Tuesday voted to initiate the removal of Workman as its president, according to a post on the NYU Law website. The board also wrote that Workman’s statement did not represent the organization and that it had not seen or approved it prior to its publication.
John Beckman, a spokesperson for NYU, said Wednesday in response to Workman’s statement that “blaming the victims of terrorism for their deaths is wrong” and it does not reflect the university’s views.
Troy A. McKenzie, the dean of NYU law rejected Workman’s statement on Tuesday. “This message was not from N.Y.U. School of Law as an institution and does not speak for the leadership of the law school.” He called Hamas’ killing of Israelis as “acts of terrorism.”
Abraham Foxman, the former head of the Anti-Defamation League and NYU law graduate, class of 1965, expressed frustration with McKenzie’s response. With his daughter, Michelle Foxman, who also graduated from the law school, Foxman wrote to the dean that, contrary to what the school teaches, he had failed “to present any and all of the relevant facts in making his case.”
“For example, your statement did not include the words Hamas, Charter, Slaughter, Massacre, Rape, Genocide and/or Hostage,” the Foxman’s wrote. “And because you failed to include these words, these facts, you gave legitimacy to the false premise that there are two sides to what happened when Hamas invaded Israel on the Sabbath and on a Jewish holiday, and brutally butchered its citizens.” While Hamas’ killings and kidnappings of Israelis, including children and the elderly, have been well documented, it is unclear that all the Foxman’s list as facts could be substantiated when they wrote.
Workman had also compared Hamas’ attacks to acts of “liberation” and “self-determination.” She followed with a list of condemnations, including “settler colonialism” and “the violence of removing historical context.”
The SBA in its post also said that following Workman’s statement, “several students received significant targeted harassment and death threats.”
One Israeli law student who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being harassed, said he was “extremely angry and terrified” after he read Workman’s statement.
“We receive harsher news every day about people we know and love in Israel,” he continued. “Instead of focusing our energies on supporting our family and friends in Israel, we need to address antisemitism here.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly named the law firm that withdrew the employment offer. It is Winston & Strawn LLP, not William & Strawn LLP.
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