Phoebe Gittelson

Overview

Phoebe Gittelson [Phoebe Rose Gittelson] has demonized Israel and Zionists. Gittelson has also opposed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, which includes equating Israel with Nazi Germany.

Gittelson was affiliated with the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law (CUNY Law) chapter of the Jewish Law Students Association (CUNY JLSA) during the 2020-2021 academic year. CUNY JLSA is an anti-Israel organization.

Gittelson also expressed support for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in February 2020.

As of March 2024, Gittelson’s LinkedIn profile said she had been an “Associate - Environmental Protection Legal Fellow” at Richman Law & Policy in Irvington, New York, since October 2023.

Gittelson was listed online as having passed the New York State bar exam in July 2021.

As of March 2024, Gittelson was listed as a 2019 fellow for the Sorensen Center for International Peace and Justice at CUNY Law. The Sorensen Center website also listed that Gittelson interned at Food & Water Watch in Washington, D.C., during her fellowship.

As of the same date, Gittelson’s LinkedIn said she graduated from CUNY Law with a JD in 2021. Gittelson also graduated from Boston University (BU) with a bachelor’s degree in public relations in 2014.

As of the same date, Gittelson’s LinkedIn said she was located in Saugerties, New York.

As of the same date, Gittelson used the alias “@sweetphee” on Instagram and Tumblr.

Demonizing Israel

In June 2023, Gittelson signed an anti-Israel statement titled: “Over 400 CUNY Law Alumni Stand with Fatima.” The statement compared the “harm and violence caused” by American police to “Israel’s violent occupation and apartheid system.”

The statement defended Fatima Mohammed for her CUNY Law commencement speech in May 2023, where she promoted violence, spread hatred of Israel and the police, honored terrorist financiers and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. Mohammed is an activist with the pro-terror group Within Our Lifetime (WOL), where she has glorified terrorists and called for Israel’s destruction.The CUNY Board of Trustees condemned Mohammed’s speech.

In February 2020, Gittelson signed a letter titled: “CUNY Law Student groups, Students, Alumni and Faculty stand with SJP and Palestinian students.”

The letter claimed: “A subset of Zionist activists choose to weaponize the genuine threats of anti-Semitism elsewhere in our society as a tactic to repress activism and harass and threaten Palestinian students and Muslim students more broadly.”

Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture.

The letter was released after a Jewish student at CUNY Law wrote an op-ed about her experiences with anti-Semitism on campus. That student later reportedly dropped out of CUNY Law after harassment she faced from her op-ed and the anti-Israel letter.

Opposing the IHRA Definition of Anti-Semitism

In April 2021, Gittelson signed an open letter titled: “Open Letter to the CUNY Community Re: USS IHRA resolution.”

The letter stated: “We, the Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA) at CUNY Law, and our allies, write to convey our concern and alarm over the recent introduction on 3/14/21 of the University Student Senate (USS) Resolution ‘Condemning Anti-Semitism and Supporting the CUNY Jewish Community.’ We respectfully oppose this resolution, and urge the USS and our CUNY community to do the same. This resolution adopts a definition of antisemitism put forth by the the [sic] International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).”