Rogue anti-Israel SUNY group finally getting censured — a month late and only after Post inquiry: ‘This is how hate starts’

A rogue group called “SUNY BDS” used the state university system’s name to spew anti-Israel propaganda nearly a month ago — and officials are only now finally censuring it after a Post inquiry.

The self-billed “community organization” that claims to represent all 64 State University of New York branches was slapped with a cease-and-desist letter by SUNY lawyers late Friday — after The Post questioned why the unauthorized group was left unchecked to spew its hatred for weeks.

“This is how hate is propagated across 64 universities at the same time — this is how hate starts,” seethed a critic of Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose administration failed to denounce the nearly month-old group until pressed by The Post.

“BDS” has become a highly controversial term that stands for “boycott, divestment and sanction” and targets Israel while falsely accusing the Jewish state of “occupying” and “colonizing” land.

The SUNY BDS group — which describes itself as “SUNY students, staff, faculty, and alumni working to make New York State divest from Israeli apartheid” — apparently does not recognize the existence of the Jewish state, referring to it as “Israel” with quotes, and accuses the sovereign nation of being a “murderous settler colonial and genocidal state project.”

A forceful statement condemning the group — which had been the subject of some SUNY campus news-outlet articles — was finally sent to The Post from the governor’s office Friday after The Post asked about the hateful organization.

“To be clear, both Governor Hochul and the SUNY System do not endorse this group or their mission,” said a rep for Hochul, adding that the governor has “repeatedly condemned all forms of antisemitism and has taken significant steps to keep our students safe, including launching a nation-leading initiative to combat hate crimes, investing hundreds of millions of dollars to protect schools, places of worship and community centers, and advancing a comprehensive plan to eradicate hate and bias at public colleges in New York.”

A SUNY rep also showed The Post a cease-and-desist letter warning SUNY BDS against “using intellectual property” of the state university system.

“It has come to our attention that your unincorporated organization, SUNY BDS, uses images and other written references that utilize one or more SUNY Trademarks,” wrote Kapil Longani, senior vice chancellor for legal affairs and general counsel, in the two-page letter.

The group now has until Monday to “cease and desist from all further use of the SUNY name, the SUNY Trademarks, and any other designations likely to cause confusion with same,” according to the letter, which warned that SUNY “takes an aggressive position against infringement of its intellectual property.”

SUNY rep Lane Filler added in an e-mail to The Post: “Chancellor King has made it absolutely clear since the horrific Hamas attack of Oct. 7 that SUNY stands with Israel in the face of terrorism and that there is no place for antisemitism at SUNY, and today SUNY has transmitted a cease-and-desist letter demanding to stop using SUNY’s name immediately.”

Hochul — who recently caught flak for delivering strong pro-Israel comments during a posh Jewish event and then later walking them back — has been accused of lacking moral conviction since the Palestinian terror group Hamas’ slaughter in Israel on Oct. 7 sparked the Gaza war.

“Worse than the people behind SUNY BDS are the so-called leaders who keep promising the Jewish community that they really care about antisemitism,” said former Dov Hikind, a former state assemblyman from New York City.

“They’re full of s–t. There’s no real moral compass,” said Hikind, who now runs Americans Against Antisemitism, of leaders’ empty lip service in the face of “this sick, pathetic, out-of-control Jew hatred.”

Meanwhile, in addition to pushing “boycott, divestment and sanction” measures against Israel, SUNY BDS — which has invoked the refrain, “From the river to the see, Palestine will be free,” seen by many in the Jewish community as a call to genocide — has taken aim at the SUNY system and Hochul herself.

In a February 13 Instagram post, the group accused the governor of “illegally” trying to block the controversial Students for Justice in Palestine organization, which has been suspended by Columbia University for its “threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” from opening a campus chapter.

A SUNY BDS letter has demanded that the state university system “divest” from Israel and garnered more than 2,000 signatures, including hundreds of anonymous signatures.

“SUNY has numerous ties to Israel and to the weapons manufacturers supporting Israel’s oppression of Palestinians,” reads the letter, which accused SUNY of being complicit in Israel’s “oppression” of Palestinians through “homeland and cybersecurity research partnership between SUNY Albany and Ben Gurion University” in Israel, a claim that is unsubstantiated.

With no mention or condemnation of Oct. 7, the rant added, “SUNY’s consistent refusal to acknowledge and condemn the Palestinian genocide and call for a ceasefire represents a failure to live up to its mission.

“For as long as SUNY maintains its economic ties and partnerships with corporations that directly aid the Israeli state in their violent campaign, we are complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people.”

SUNY BDS has not responded to requests for comment from The Post.