A prominent international law firm has rescinded its job offer to NYU Law School Bar Association student president Ryna Workman over “inflammatory” comments regarding the deadly weekend attacks on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“I want to express, first and foremost, my unwavering and absolute solidarity with Palestinians in their resistance against oppression toward liberation and self-determination,” the nonbinary student wrote in a school-wide newsletter posted to social media. “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’s missive instead condemned several ideas and institutions — including the “United States military-industrial complex” and “the violence of trapping thousands in an open air-prison” — but not Hamas.
The Gaza Strip houses more than 2 million Palestinians in a 25-mile stretch of land with borders that are largely controlled by Israel. It’s sometimes described as an outdoor detention center. The Palestinian group Hamas polices the Strip itself.
Winston & Strawn LLP, which has offices in the Midtown’s Metlife building, as well as Chicago, Washington D.C., London, Hong Kong, Paris and Shanghai, decried Workman’s position on social media.
— Winston & Strawn LLP (@WinstonLaw) October 10, 2023
“These comments are profoundly in conflict with Winston & Strawn’s values as a firm,” the company posted on X. “Accordingly, the law firm has rescinded the law student’s offer of employment.
The law group referred to Workman as a “former summer associate.”
NYU also distanced itself from the student’s comments.
“The statement issued by the Student Bar Association does not in any way reflect the point of view of NYU,” the school said. “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.”
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