Inside CUNY's Antisemitism Crisis: Professor Jeffrey Lax Speaks Out

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]What has been your experience here? I know you you've your you were saying earlier you could be a hero of half the people and a villain to the other half.

[00:00:09]I mean, you've been very outspoken about this. What has this been for you personally? What's been the What has it been like for you personally though?

[00:00:16]Yeah, we were talking about this before we came on today. It is true. I mean, I'm definitely a polarizing figure. I'm proud of that because people make it easier for me to know who's on the side of right historically and who's on the wrong side.

[00:00:33]So, I I am a little bit more recognizable now. I've done some media and so yeah, I would say that half the people on my own campus hate me and half really love me.

[00:00:44]And that's okay cuz I think it's the right people who love me. What are some examples of things that you've experienced? I know you don't like that word anti-Semitism, but from an anti-Semitism standpoint, if you know what I'm trying to say, what have been some things that you've experienced that make you go really, really this is going on? Well, you walked into my office today. We're in my office right now and you saw the top letter that I that was left on my desk by my administrative assistant which was a hate letter from an anti-Semitic person.

[00:01:14]It was like 7.5 font, one page addressed to me in hand like a creepy letter. Um and I get a lot of that stuff. Um but also we had a pro-Hamas rally on our campus and I flew the American flag in protest because it really was anti-American. They were chanting things that were anti-American like, you know, uh death to America and stuff like that.

[00:01:38]They were chanting stuff like that.

[00:01:39]People who thinks that think it's about Jews are really not seeing the picture here. It is not. It is They are trying to destroy American culture, Western culture, and come after Christians as well.

[00:01:52]They're no fans of either one of us.

[00:01:53]What has it been like for you as a faculty member here specifically as it relates to, you know, some of what you're up against in terms of the intelligentsia, if you will, of the academic community. If you I You know, how's that What's that like?

[00:02:08]>> That's a good question. I mean, the faculty here are largely Marxist.

[00:02:13]The union is entirely Marxist. So, I resigned from my faculty union cuz I Our views do not align. They're, in my view, anti-Semitic. Um also anti-Christian.

[00:02:23]Again, I I don't think I don't see any difference. Sure. I really don't. They don't like religion for Now, why do they make an exception for Islam?

[00:02:32]That's a question I don't know if we'll ever know, except for this one common goal that radical Islam, not Islam, but radical Islam has with Western culture.

[00:02:41]But yes, we have it up against that. The union here, the faculty members call each other comrade at union meetings.

[00:02:46]They actually use that word. And it's not a joke, they're serious. So, they're a really dyed-in-the-wool, true Marxist.

[00:02:53]And so yeah, we've been up against that.

[00:02:54]I do have lawsuits against the university. They're going extremely well. I couldn't be happier with the way they're going. I wanted the EEOC, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

[00:03:03]Um and so we look forward to We look forward to actually enforcing that decision in court, that there is widespread anti-Semitism here. Um but also other types of discrimination, too, that are not necessarily named in my complaint, but I would like to end it all.

[00:03:16]>> Can you give me an example of something that is anti-Semitism related that's happened to you or that you know of here, specifically?

[00:03:23]>> They had a big faculty group here called the PFC, the Progressive Faculty Caucus.

[00:03:29]I'm sure the name wouldn't shock any of your viewers.

[00:03:32]Um they, again, Marxist people, they had a rule that they would not allow Zionists or Orthodox Jews into their group. And in fact, six Zionist or Orthodox Jews were turned down from joining the group, and nobody else was ever turned down. And they held meetings on Friday nights purposefully so that Orthodox Jews could not attend. And they admitted that. They admitted that in the EEOC case, which is why the EEOC said, you know, what are you doing? That's discriminatory. That's why I won. Um, so yeah, we are up against that. And they don't want people like that. They're very much anti-religion. You know, Marx was, yes, he was anti-Semitic, even though some people argue he had Jewish roots, which is, I think, true. But he also was anti all religion. He didn't believe that religion should be allowed in the state at all. That there should not be religion.

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