When Professor Jeffrey Lax reported widespread anti-Jewish discrimination, including harassment of Jewish faculty members like himself, the City University of New York placed the investigation in the lap of Saly Abd Alla, an official in the school’s discrimination office, but hardly was an ally of the Jews. people.
Abd Alla came to CUNY from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, where she worked as civil rights director alongside officials who have promoted anti-Israel propaganda and defended Jew-hating terrorist groups, including Hamas.
CUNY’s decision to name Abd Alla in the case has sparked backlash in the pro-Israel community, with critics saying it’s impossible for a former CAIR official to fairly judge allegations of anti-Semitism. The selection comes amid a growing wave of anti-Semitic incidents on America’s college campuses, some of which have sparked unprecedented investigations by the Department of Education. This includes Jewish students allegedly pulled from a sexual assault survivor group at the University of Vermont and similar incidents at the University of Southern California in which students were bullied online for publicly expressing their Jewish identity and pro – the Israelis.
Lax, a professor at CUNY’s Kingsborough Community College, says in his complaint that CUNY leadership, including Kingsborough President Claudia Schrader, failed to act with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. confirmation of widespread anti-Jewish discrimination on the CUNY campus. Pro-Israel faculty members and those who identify as Zionists have repeatedly reported being targeted for their beliefs.
“Can you imagine if a college had appointed David Duke to investigate discrimination against people of color? That’s the equivalent of what it is,” Lax told Newsmax on Monday. “This has been a cancer at CUNY for a long time, anti-Semitism.”
The Anti-Defamation League reports that CAIR’s leadership uses “inflammatory anti-Zionist rhetoric that in a number of cases has devolved into anti-Semitic tropes related to Jewish influence on the media or political issues, or has descended into denigration of Zionists, which includes most Jews.” Americans”.
“Antipathy toward Israel,” says the ADL, “has been a staple of CAIR since the group’s founding in 1994.” This includes CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad’s “repeated statements in support of Hamas.”
Weak, in the information provided for Free lanternsaid he was first contacted by Abd Alla earlier this month and informed that she would be handling his discrimination case.
Lax responded to Abd Alla in an email outlining his concerns about her relationship with CAIR and his support for anti-Semitic causes such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which wages economic war against Israel.
“At the heart of my claim is that I am being discriminated against and retaliated against because I am a Zionist Jew,” Lax wrote. “I want to be very open and transparent at the outset about a concern I have: I note that you are the former Civil Rights Director of CAIR MN. As you know, CAIR is an aggressively anti-Zionist movement and a supportive voice of BDS. CAIR has also lobbied against the existence of the 100-year-old Jewish Civil Rights organization, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and has supported and defended comments by Ilhan Omar and Linda Sarsour that most Jews believe are deeply anti-Semitic. .”
Lax asked if Abd Alla “could investigate such claims without prejudice”.
Lax says Abd Alla has yet to respond to this September 12 email. He also wrote to Abd Alla’s supervisor, Vice Chancellor Doriane Gloria, demanding a response. Gloria told him last week that she got his message and would respond this week, though that hasn’t come yet, according to Lax.
A CUNY spokesman said Free lantern that Abd Alla will have no problem fairly investigating Lax’s claims of anti-Semitism.
“CUNY is committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive community, free from anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred and safe for all individuals,” the spokesperson said. “All of CUNY’s Chief Diversity Officers are professional and trained to ensure that the university and its campuses comply with workplace rules and conduct fair and impartial investigations of workplace discrimination when necessary .”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a group that fights anti-Semitism, attacked CUNY on Twitter, accusing the school of losing its moral compass.
“CUNY Employment[d] someone from CAIR to investigate anti-Semitism [and] anti-Zionist?” center posted on Twitter. “CAIR officials have been spreading hatred of Jews. CUNY has lost its moral compass.”
CAIR was listed by the Wiesenthal Center as one of the top 10 promoters of anti-Semitism by 2021.
Inna Vernikov, the Republican minority whip on the New York City Council, also criticized CUNY’s decision. “CUNY appointing a former CAIRNational representative to investigate allegations of anti-Semitism is like asking a sexual abuser to investigate allegations of sexual harassment/rape of a victim of such abuse,” she said. posted on Twitter.
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R., NY) said in a statement Tuesday that CUNY is guilty of displaying “abhorrent antipathy toward students, faculty and staff who have been victims of anti-Semitism on campus.”
“This is just the latest example,” Zeldin said. “If you are appointing someone who has a leadership role in a known anti-Semitic organization to lead an investigation into anti-Semitism, there may not be an investigation at all. Through its words and actions, the school’s leadership has allowed and encouraged an environment where Jewish students, faculty and staff do not feel valued and often feel attacked.”
