One Black law student who recently had a job offer rescinded due to their support of Palestinian people.

Ryna Workman, a New York University law student body president who is nonbinary and goes by they/them pronouns, penned a letter to their classmates revealing their “unwavering and absolute solidarity with Palestinians in their resistance against oppression toward liberation and self-determination,” according to The Intercept. Workman concluded the message by stating, “Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life.”

Workman’s controversial letter led to their removal as president of the Student Bar Association. They received criticism online for refusing to condemn Hamas’ actions in the attacks on Oct. 7 that left about 1,300 Israeli people dead. The law firm Winston & Strawn withdrew their post-graduate job offer to Workman due to their support for Palestinians.

Since then, Workman has received online death threats, and the university is launching a full investigation into them.

In their first interview with the media, Workman told The Intercept that their message was to shed light on Israel’s “75-year violent regime over Palestine” and advocate for basic human rights. They also admired the resilience of the people of Gaza, who continued to use their voice to garner global support.

“What’s been driving me is the resilience of Palestinians in this moment,” Workman told to The Intercept. “The fact that they are still using their voice, that they are still standing strong, that they are still here, and that they are asking us to continue to speak out and show up for them through this and to not let this be their end.”

They continued: “And so for me, I will continue to speak out for them and ask for these demands of an immediate ceasefire and this provision of this humanitarian assistance in a safe, secure and timely fashion to the people of Gaza.”

An NYU spokesperson released a statement responding to Workman’s remarks in the newsletter.

“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. 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 statement read.

On Monday, Workman released a statement and explained how they didn’t intend their message to come across as “insensitive” to the Israeli nation.

“I’ve been getting a lot of backlash for the message I sent to my fellow NYU Law students where I voiced my support for the human rights of Palestinians,” they said in the letter. “My message came across as insensitive to the suffering of Israelis during a time of crisis and that is not what I intended. What I wrote was inspired by, and in line with, what many Jewish peace activists and Israelis, including the editorial board of Israel’s largest newspaper, have voiced over the past week in response to the violence.” 

According to reports, Workman is not the only college student facing backlash for supporting Palestinians. The Intercept reported that students across the country, especially at Harvard, were condemned for addressing Israel’s treatment toward the Palestinians. Research from Palestine Legal, an advocacy group, shows 1,707 incidents have occurred between 2014 and 2020.

“This is an unprecedented moment of anxiety and fear for everyone speaking out publicly in support of Palestinians, who are compelled to do so to stop an unfolding genocide in Gaza,” Dima Khalidi, director of Palestine Legal, told The Intercept. “There has always been a concerted effort to shut down the movement for Palestinian rights through censorship, legal bullying, doxxing, and more, as Palestine Legal has been documenting for years. Now that attack has been magnified by 100.”

Recently, Harvard students held several protests as they addressed the importance of free speech rights.

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