Transcript [00:00] Well, we have a first time guest, [00:01] somebody I've [00:03] known about. I've watched him online [00:05] from time to time. Professor Jeffrey [00:07] Lax. He's written a brilliant piece and [00:10] commentary. [00:11] Professor, how are you, sir? [00:14] >> Mark, I really appreciate this. I've not [00:17] seen anyone take more incoming than than [00:20] you over the past couple of years just [00:21] for defending freedom. And if if it [00:24] survives, if it survives, your name [00:26] belongs in the history book. So, thank [00:28] you. [00:28] >> Wow, you're a sweetheart. I appreciate [00:30] that you're doing a pretty good job [00:31] yourself there. Professor, tell us a [00:33] little bit about yourself so the so the [00:35] audience knows. Remember, we're heard [00:36] all over the country. [00:39] >> Yeah. Well, you know, I saw this coming [00:41] 10 years ago, really 11 years ago, on my [00:43] campus at the City University of New [00:45] York, the the largest urban public [00:46] university in the country. Actually, the [00:49] the Red Green Alliance, which is the [00:51] Islamist Marxism. I talked about this on [00:54] Fox on Stuart Vanney's show three, four [00:56] years ago. Um because I work I I'm on [00:59] the ground, Mark, every single day [01:01] working with these lunatics. I look in [01:03] their dead eyes and they've attacked me [01:06] for speaking out. They've attacked me [01:08] really not for speaking out. They [01:09] attacked me originally just for being a [01:11] Jew. [01:12] >> Mhm. It's amazing. Luckily, you have [01:15] tenure, I hope. Right. So, they can't [01:16] take you out that way. [01:19] >> They tried. They've put me under my [01:20] university has placed me under, and you [01:22] should know, by the way. [01:23] >> Yeah. Yeah. [01:24] >> The chief diversity officer at the [01:26] largest univers public university in the [01:27] country is Sally Abadala, the former [01:30] Care Minnesota political director [01:32] >> who spearheaded who spearheaded [01:36] >> the BDS movement at at Care Minnesota. [01:39] Can you imagine in a school in in a [01:41] university with 240,000 [01:45] students in the largest Jewish [01:47] population in the country outside of [01:48] Israel, what chance does a Jewish [01:51] student have bringing an anti-semitism [01:53] claim when Sally Abadala, an Islamist, [01:57] is in charge of those investigations? [01:59] It's outrageous. [02:01] >> It is outrageous. Now, one of the things [02:03] you've done in this commentary piece, [02:05] which is absolutely brilliant, you said, [02:07] "Hey, look, [02:10] we Jews, you know, we're fighting [02:12] anti-semitism. We're under attack, but [02:15] we don't really know how best to respond [02:19] to this, and there's a tactical way to [02:21] do this." Now, I don't want to steal [02:22] your thunder. Walk us through this. [02:26] Yeah, it's actually for me, it was [02:27] complicated because I really wanted to [02:29] work both sides at the same time. And I [02:31] got to be honest, I didn't know if this [02:33] would work out. I wanted the reality of [02:36] who Jewish people really are in everyday [02:38] life to match up exactly with the [02:41] protected classes under American law. [02:43] And otherwise, we wouldn't be speaking [02:45] today if that wasn't true. They do align [02:47] and and I really I put it into a [02:49] framework of five categories which I [02:51] call the prize framework. The P is [02:54] practice Judaism. I think that's a very [02:56] simple one that anyone can understand. [02:58] If you are a practicing Jew, we all know [03:00] that practicing your religion is [03:02] protected under state, federal, local [03:05] laws all across the country. You don't [03:07] have to be an orthodox Jew. If you're a [03:08] conservative or whatever stream you are, [03:11] if you have a genuine religious belief, [03:12] we know that's protected. So that's kind [03:14] of easy. Then you have religious [03:16] Zionism, which a lot of people don't [03:18] know about. A lot of people like me that [03:20] includes me are religiously Zionist. [03:23] Meaning I believe that Abraham had a [03:25] conversation with God in Shahim which is [03:28] today scenario which some people call [03:30] the West Bank today. Okay. I believe [03:33] that conversation. So my beliefs are [03:35] actually religious and that's protected [03:37] under the law and it should be protected [03:39] because it's a genuine belief and that's [03:41] where my uh and and by the way in the [03:44] Bible Old Testament 613 commandments 204 [03:50] of them require Israel. So if you are an [03:53] Orthodox Jew or or a conservative Jew or [03:56] any Jew who has a religious connection, [03:58] it is really truly genuinely religious. [04:01] So that's the R in prize. I is the [04:03] simplest of all. I is Israeli [04:05] nationality. Obviously, about 80% of [04:07] Israelis are Jews. So, if you're an [04:09] Israeli national, we know they're being [04:11] discriminated, especially in academia [04:13] today. Try to get a any any type of [04:15] publication now um collaborated with [04:18] across the world. It's not happening if [04:20] you're Israeli. So, that's the I PRI. [04:22] Then Z is ethnicity. Ethnicity. This is [04:25] one that people don't use enough and [04:27] it's so important. It is a shared [04:30] cultural, historical, and and an [04:33] ancestral tie to the land of Israel and [04:37] the people of Israel. If you go back and [04:39] look at that conversation that that [04:41] monstrous anti-semite Tucker Carlson had [04:44] with Ted Cruz a year a year or so ago [04:47] and and he said to Ted Cruz, "Well, why [04:49] do Christians need to support the [04:51] Israeli government?" And I'm sitting [04:53] there, Mark, I am pulling my hair out [04:56] because Ted Cruz was not ready. Peg Cruz [04:58] is one of the most brilliant people I've [05:00] ever heard, but he was not prepared for [05:02] that ridiculous statement. No one has [05:05] ever said that Christians should support [05:08] the Israeli government. It's not about [05:09] the government. It's about the Jewish [05:11] people. The commandment in the Bible and [05:13] the altar with which both Jews and [05:15] Christians believe is that God blesses [05:18] Abraham and blesses those who bless [05:20] Abraham's descendants. Has nothing to do [05:22] with a government. So, it's about the [05:24] people and land of Israel. So Zion [05:26] ethnicity is just a shared historical, [05:30] cultural, ancestral connection to the [05:32] land and people of Israel. It's not [05:34] political. It's a lie to say it's [05:36] political. And finally, the E category [05:38] and prize. I'm sorry for going on so [05:40] long here. It's the ethnic Jewish [05:43] identity. [05:44] >> So the ethnic Jewish identity is the [05:46] biggest group of all. It encompasses a [05:48] lot of good people like you and me. [05:50] We're both ethnically Jewish, but it [05:52] also encompasses a lot of bad people, [05:53] too. but they're protected also under [05:55] the law. So you can be an anti-Zionist, [05:57] but you may have a grandfather who's [05:59] Jewish or a mother who's Jewish or a [06:01] father, whatever it is, that still makes [06:03] you ethnically Jewish. So you're still [06:05] protected under that fifth category. But [06:07] you have all these five categories, [06:09] you'll notice there's nothing political [06:11] in here. And all these pol all of these [06:14] categories are in my view empirical [06:18] reality about who Jews are in real life. [06:22] And all of these are protected under the [06:24] law by either nationality or by race. [06:28] And if you look at state law in New York [06:30] where I'm where I'm in and I'm I'm [06:31] admitted to the bar in New York, uh New [06:33] York uses the term creed, which case law [06:36] has over overwhelmingly said is [06:38] synonymous with ethnicity. So all these [06:41] categories that I just listed are fully [06:42] protected under the law. And we need to [06:46] plead using this framework because we're [06:48] losing way too many cases across the [06:50] country in motions to dismiss where this [06:52] is avoided. [06:53] >> And you're saying, look, it could be one [06:55] of these five. It can be a couple of [06:57] these five. It can be all five, right? [07:01] >> Yeah. You can be in I'm I happen to be [07:03] in four out of the five categories. I'm [07:05] a practicing Jew. I'm religiously [07:07] Zionist. I'm not an Israeli national, [07:10] but I do have Zionist ethnicity and I am [07:12] ethnically Jewish. And I think one of [07:15] the most rewarding moments for me, Mark, [07:17] I go around and I talk about this and I [07:18] give speeches about it. I the one of the [07:21] most rewarding I face evil people every [07:23] day in my life. Most of my interactions [07:25] are difficult, Mark, and I know you know [07:27] this better than anybody, you know, but [07:30] when I give these speeches to a friendly [07:33] group of Jews, a lot of them are [07:35] ethnically Jewish, but they don't [07:37] understand how to describe their [07:39] Jewishness. And they come up to me after [07:41] these events and they thank me. And they [07:44] say, "I've been Jewish my whole life, [07:45] and I never knew how to explain why. Now [07:48] I know what category I'm in or what [07:50] categories I'm in. You could be in a few [07:52] categories. And now I can explain it to [07:54] people and that's really rewarding and [07:56] it's I know I went on for a long time to [07:58] describe pride read the article. [08:00] >> We here professor Jeffrey Lax good man [08:04] brilliant piece and commentary I think [08:06] it's quite brilliant and he's laying out [08:09] the legal case [08:12] um where Jews can use federal law to [08:15] bring cases too not just others. And so [08:18] my question, professor, was does this [08:22] also matter to Christians? [08:26] >> Absolutely. I mean, Christians choose to [08:29] be Christians. So a lot of Jews are just [08:30] born Jews. They may not be religious. [08:32] They're secular and they're born Jewish [08:34] because they have a Jewish parent. So [08:36] Jews aren't just a religion, but my [08:37] understanding is that Christians choose [08:40] to be it's a religion. You choose to be [08:41] a Christian. But you know, we hear a lot [08:44] about Christian Judeo values, and that [08:46] is so true. But I want people to also [08:48] realize we're ti our fate is tied [08:51] together at the hip. If you look at [08:52] countries like Iraq, Yemen, Syria, all [08:56] formerly flourishing Jewish communities, [08:58] not only do they now have zero Jews, [09:01] zero in those countries, but they're [09:04] also the top of the list of the open [09:06] doors watch list for persecution against [09:09] Christians. They're come, this Marxist [09:11] Islamist's alliance is coming for us [09:13] both. And I just want to say one last [09:15] thing about this. Why did mom Donnie [09:17] boycott the Israeli day parade but not [09:19] the Pakistan parade? Pakistan is in the [09:22] top 10 on the open doors Christian [09:24] persecution watch list for atrocities [09:27] against Christians. So why does mom Dani [09:29] go to the Pakistan day parade but not [09:32] the Israeli day parade? They're after [09:34] both of us and I really hope that [09:36] Christians realize that. [09:39] >> You make a very good point. And uh then [09:41] we have the woke right and they're [09:43] trying to [09:45] uh divide Jews from Christian. They have [09:48] a whole replacement theory, don't they? [09:51] >> Yeah. It's despicable. I mean, the [09:53] things Tucker Carlson has said, he [09:55] claims that he cares about Christians. [09:57] No, he doesn't. He talks about buying a [09:59] house in Qatar. If he bought a house in [10:02] Qatar, you know who built it? Christian [10:04] slaves. the 300,000 Christians in Qatar [10:08] that he brags about and he says people [10:11] these Christians prefer to live in Qatar [10:13] than Israel. No, they don't. They're [10:15] slaves. They're the ones that they are [10:17] they're forced laborers. They're they [10:19] have owners who own their documentation. [10:21] They can't move around. They can't get [10:23] paid. It it is a despicable situation [10:27] for Tucker to say things like that when [10:29] in reality Qatar does not It is illegal [10:32] to be a citizen of Qatar if you are a [10:34] Christian. It is illegal to wear a cross [10:37] in Qatar. It's illegal to procilitize if [10:40] you're a Christian in Qatar. So you're [10:42] right. It's coming from the Pastans or [10:44] Woke Rice. What he's, you know, I hate [10:46] this term work woke right because Tucker [10:49] Carlson doesn't say anything [10:50] conservative in my view anymore. He to [10:52] me he's a he's espousing non- capitalist [10:55] anti-freedom anti-free speech values [10:58] today. So I don't even think he's [10:59] associated with the right. So, you've [11:01] got this this this prize, this layout of [11:05] a legal strategy. Are there litigators [11:08] who you've shared this with and who've [11:10] taken an interest in because they [11:12] should? [11:14] >> I have. Some of them have been on your [11:16] show and some of the top um Jewish [11:18] litigators in the nation and and all of [11:21] them have given me positive feedback so [11:22] far and some good criticism criticism [11:25] that helped me to craft this. I think [11:28] the biggest mistake people make today in [11:30] litigation u and in real life is talking [11:34] about the conflict in Gaza and talking [11:36] about the war. You should not put [11:38] Israel's military history into a [11:41] pleading in a you know when you're when [11:44] you're filing a complaint in court and [11:46] that's been the big that's happened. You [11:47] know the like the IRA definition of [11:49] anti-semitism is a very good document [11:51] and it's very useful. Don't [11:53] misunderstand me. I totally support it [11:56] and it has its place in the world, but [11:58] not in a discrimination case filed in [12:00] federal or state court because there may [12:03] be a double standard against Israel. I [12:05] of course see that and it's horrible and [12:08] yes, it is anti-Semitic, but it has [12:10] nothing to do with plaintiffs [12:12] discriminated against just for being [12:13] Jewish or Zionist or or a practicing Jew [12:17] like we talked about earlier here in [12:19] America. What practitioners need to [12:21] focus on who is the protected class and [12:26] what were they being dis you know how [12:28] were they being treated desperately as [12:30] American Jews and practitioners should [12:33] not talk about the righteous it is a [12:36] righteous war that Israel is fighting in [12:37] Gaza don't get me wrong but that's a [12:39] different discussion that's a moral [12:41] discussion that's a an international law [12:44] discussion um it's not a pleading [12:46] discussion for a case here in the United [12:48] States and practitioner have not [12:50] realized that and that's why so many [12:52] cases are getting dismissed. It's really [12:54] unfortunate. [12:56] >> And just to circle back briefly, one of [12:58] the reasons I think you'll agree or your [13:01] take on it that uh the Israelis come to [13:05] the defense of Christians in Syria and [13:07] try to come to the defense of Christians [13:09] in Africa and elsewhere is because of [13:12] this not only the humanity of it but [13:15] because of this connection between [13:17] Judaism and Christianity in the Holy [13:19] Land. Right. [13:21] >> Absolutely. And the Kurds, too. I mean, [13:24] Israel has prevented more genocide. It's [13:26] it's it's what Netanyahu's speech today, [13:29] which was just brilliant, as always. I [13:31] mean, I call him the modern-day Winston [13:33] Churchill. I think when all this is said [13:34] and done, he will be seen if we win. We [13:37] got to win this war. But, and I don't [13:39] just mean Israel Gaza. I mean the war [13:41] for freedom in the world. And if we win [13:44] this war, I think he'll be seen as as a [13:46] modern-day Winston Churchill. Um but [13:49] yeah, they've they've prevented more [13:51] genocides than anybody. They are [13:54] fighting. People don't realize they're [13:55] protecting everyone, even the people who [13:57] walked out today. You know, like you [13:59] said, protecting all these countries, [14:00] the Saudis from these horrible, horrific [14:03] terrorists. And you know, Netanyahu said [14:06] so truthfully that these countries thank [14:09] him in closed doors and quiet in a [14:12] whisper and then they go and walk out on [14:14] him at the at the UN, which is [14:15] despicable and obviously shows a total [14:17] lack of moral clarity. [14:19] >> By the way, as a footnote, I saw the UAE [14:21] was there. They sat there and they [14:23] stayed there. [14:25] >> The UAE worked together with Israel on [14:28] Iron Dome technology to protect UAE [14:32] civilians. I mean it it just shows you [14:35] that is I mean these countries in the [14:37] Middle East know better than anyone the [14:39] real danger the real evil that that is [14:42] the root of the problem in the Middle [14:44] East. They know that Israel deep down [14:45] they know Israel are the are the good [14:47] guys and that's why they work with them. [14:50] They who knows better than those [14:51] countries that have to deal with the [14:53] terrorists. [14:54] >> Well, we're going to post this [14:55] commentary magazine piece you wrote [14:57] here. We're talking to Professor Jeffrey [14:59] Lax. It's a great piece. the Jewish [15:02] Prize, a five-point plan to fight [15:04] anti-semitism in court and win. And you [15:07] ought to follow him on social media. [15:08] He's absolutely brilliant. And he's a [15:11] fighter. That's what I like. We [15:13] fightersh have to stand together, right, [15:15] professor? [15:17] >> That's what I love about you too, Mark. [15:20] >> All right, brother. I hope to meet you [15:22] one day, too. God bless you, sir. [15:24] >> Anytime. Anytime. [15:25] >> All right. You You take care. He's a [15:28] delight. [15:29] He's also smart as hell, as you can
