By P.K.Balachandran/Daily Mirror
Colombo, May 7: The United States House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would expand the definition of anti-Semitism (anti-Jew). The bill was passed when university students across the US had risen to condemn Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.
When it becomes law, the “Antisemitism Awareness Bill” would allow the US federal Department of Education to restrict funding and other resources to campuses perceived as tolerating anti-Semitism.
The law would mandate government civil rights offices to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA’s) definition of anti-Semitism.
But the definition has also drawn criticism because most of its examples of anti-Semitism involve criticism of Israel, including calling it a “racist endeavour or a racist project.”
The bill is moving forward at a time when criticism of Israel has been in the spotlight. Protesters at the pro-Palestinian encampments on US university campuses have harshly criticized Israel, with some using language decried as anti-Semitic.
According to Times of Israel supporters of the bill say it covers a range of ways in which anti-Semitism manifests today. But opponents say it “chills” legitimate criticism of Israel.
Opponents of the IHRA definition in Congress included New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the House’s longest-serving Jewish Democrat. “Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination,” the Associated Press quoted Nadler as saying.
However, Kenneth Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Centre for Human Rights and a Department of Education civil rights official under the Trump administration, said that the bill, should it become law, would be a useful tool on campuses given the recent turmoil.
“Americans for Peace Now” a dovish pro-Israel group, said in a statement that the bill, should it become law, would be used “as a cudgel against the millions of Americans, including many Jewish Americans, who object to the Netanyahu government’s decisions and actions,” referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war against Hamas since October 2023.
Definition of Anti-Semitism
On May 26, 2016, the 31 member states of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), of which the United States is a member, adopted a non-legally binding “working definition” of anti-Semitism at its plenary in Bucharest.
The non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism adopted was as follows: “Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Listing the manifestations of anti-Semitism, the definition said that it might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic.
Anti-Semitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews when things go wrong. It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.”
“Contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but not limited to:-
Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.”
“Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.”
“Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews and denying the Holocaust and accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.”
“Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations. Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour.”
“Applying double standards by requiring of Jews a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation. Using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.”
“Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis and holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.”
“Criminal acts are anti-Semitic when the targets of attacks, whether they are people or property – such as buildings, schools, places of worship and cemeteries – are selected because they are, or are perceived to be, Jewish or linked to Jews.”
“Anti-Semitic discrimination is the denial to Jews of opportunities or services available to others and is illegal in many countries.”
Students Movement Against Israel
But critics warn that IHRA’s definition could be used to stifle campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of more than 34,568 Palestinians so far.
In the University of Texas, at Dallas, at least 17 student protesters were arrested and charged with trespassing after police were called to take down an anti-Israel encampments that were established on campus in violation of the school’s code of conduct. Encampments are similar to sit-in protests.
In Florida, among other states, police have dispersed campus rallies with tear gas. Photos showed officers detaining a University of Wisconsin Madison Professor with blood splattered on his forehead, the Washington Post reported.
Four police officers and three sheriff’s deputies were injured while trying to shut down illegal camping, according to a spokesperson from the University of Wisconsin at Madison
In California, masked men of a pro-Israel group, attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment on a Los Angeles campus. Students criticized police for not intervening sooner. Fifteen injuries, including one hospitalization, were reported after police quelled the violence. In Portland State University, students barricaded themselves in a library and spray-painted “FREE GAZA” on the wall.
In Columbia and the City University in New York, over 300 protesters were arrested. In the last 14 days 1,700 had been taken into custody, the Washington Post said. The striking visuals of officers flooding college campuses have triggered condemnation from labour leaders and left-leaning politicians, the Post added.
Police have so far arrested more than 2,000 protesters at colleges around the country
Students demand their schools divest from companies that support Israel’s government, such as the arms suppliers. One of the common chants by protesters heard at the University of Michigan was, “Divulge, divest. We will not stop, we will not rest,” Al Jazeera said.
On Thursday, at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Mississippi, some shouted racist remarks and one individual can be heard making what sounded like monkey noises at the Black student.
“Students were calling for an end to genocide. They were met with racism,” James M Thomas, a sociology professor at the University of Mississippi, wrote on X.
Several Republican Congressmen have urged President Biden to call on the National Guard to dismantle encampments. Former President Donald Trump said: “To every college president, I say: remove the encampments immediately. Vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses for all of the normal students who want a safe place from which to learn.”
Trump called protesters “raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers” and added: “Your towns and villages will now be accepting people from Gaza and various other places.”
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