Four Jewish professors at a US university are understood to be under investigation after expressing concern over BDS activity on campus.
The pro-Israel academics have also been outspoken about alleged antisemitism at the City University of New York (CUNY).
Advocacy group SAFE CUNY, which represents Jewish students and staff at the university, announced the news about a university investigation on their Twitter account.
The group said: “Four Zionist Jewish professors who complained about antisemitism on their campuses have now been placed under investigation by CUNY for ‘discrimination’ against BDS and radical Islamist antisemitic activists.
“We have all the details but cannot share yet.”
One of the professors, Jeffrey Lax, said he had been put under investigation by the university for speaking out.
The situation at CUNY right now is very simple. 4 professors have been placed under "discrimination" investigation for complaining about BDS & radical Islamist antisemitism on their campuses.
— SAFE CUNY (@SAFECUNY) August 6, 2023
CUNY Discrimination head, former CAIR Director and BDS activist Saly Abd Alla
AND… pic.twitter.com/3R0VCa0HTG
“For those asking, yes, I am one of the four,” the political science academic wrote on his Twitter account on Monday.
“I said from the very beginning that I may have been the first one they did this to, but I would be FAR from the last.
“And, here we are. A 1930s Germany style purge of faculty in Academia.”
Over the years, CUNY staff and students have reported several alleged antisemitic events on campus.
In May, graduate Fatima Mohammed delivered a speech in which she accused Israel of “Indiscriminately rain bullets and bombs on worshippers” and lauding CUNY’s efforts to allow students to “speak out against Israeli settler colonialism.”
At the time, Lax pointed to her speech as a sign of the school’s attitude towards radicalism on campus.
He said: “What I find truly incredible is not just that Mohammed’s speech is clearly evil – I’m not interested in a random evil student, even though she’s now a graduate.
Professor Jeffrey Lax
Professor Jeffrey Lax of SAFE CUNY
“What I’m much more interested in is that the faculty most likely saw that speech and approved it."
The university has also been accused of covering up antisemitism and refusing to cooperate with investigations into a campus environment that is hostile towards Israel and Jews.
In July 2022, CUNY administrators clashed with New York City council members at a hearing called to examine the school's handling of antisemitic incidents across its 25 campuses.
According to Jewish Insider, Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez did not show up for the hearing, despite it having been moved multiple times to accommodate his schedule.
The university also came under fire when CUNY's law school faculty endorsed a student government resolution backing the BDS campaign in May 2022.
The student resolution, passed in December 2021, charged the school with “complicity” in war crimes alleged to have been perpetrated by Israel, and called for ties to be cut between CUNY and Israeli institutions, as well a Jewish student groups on campus.
It criticised some students groups for supporting Israel and called for the school to “cut all ties with organisations that repress Palestinian organising”.
A spokesman for CUNY told the JC: "CUNY does not comment on confidential personnel matters."
