Despite opposition from 70 Democrats and 21 Republicans, the House on Wednesday passed a bill to rein in anti-Semitism on college campuses.
Supporters say it is necessary to clamp down on such incidents amid a sea of anti-Israel protests on campuses, while opponents say it could “freeze” free speech.
The bill passed 320-91 would require the Department of Education to enforce federal anti-discrimination laws using the definition of anti-Semitism defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Jewish Democrat from New York, warned that the bill “threatens to chill constitutionally protected speech.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Jewish Democrat from New York, warned that the bill “threatens to chill constitutionally protected speech.”
Lawler, above, responded: ‘There are Democrats like Jerry Nadler who say, Well, I’m against this. Meanwhile, he was a co-sponsor of a bill that literally did the exact same thing this bill was going to do just several Congresses ago. “This should indicate how much the Democratic Party has changed when it comes to fighting anti-Semitism.”
“Speech critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination,” he continued during a Rules Committee hearing. “The bill is too broad.”
Nadler has supported a bill codifying multiple definitions of anti-Semitism in previous congressional terms. “I was wrong to do it,” he said.
The definition that the IHRA lists for anti-Semitism is: “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred towards Jews.” Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed at Jewish or non-Jewish persons and/or their property, at institutions of the Jewish community and religious facilities.’
The Alliance further describes anti-Semitism:
‘The demonstrations could include attacks against the State of Israel, conceived as a Jewish community. However, criticism of Israel similar to that directed at any other country cannot be considered anti-Semitic.’
He continues: “Anti-Semitism frequently accuses Jews of conspiring to harm humanity, and is often used to blame Jews for ‘why things are going wrong.'” It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.’
Examples of antisemitism by the IHRA
Ro-Palestinian protesters gather outside Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus after a group created an encampment inside the building on May 1, 2024 in New York City.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus after a group created a camp inside the building.
Police in riot gear enter a Columbia University building that pro-Palestinian student protesters had taken over. They arrested around 300
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., introduced the legislation along with other Jewish members: Reps. Max Miller, R-Ohio, Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.
But the bill has brought together a political horseshoe of free speech advocates from the right and left.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who also voted to move the bill out of committee, questioned why it incorporated “international law into a statute.”
“We are certainly conceptually in favor of trying to roll back all the ridiculousness in the world, but legislating is serious business,” he told DailyMail.com. “I think every time you start legislating ‘hate’ my antennae go up.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted to move the bill out of the Rules Committee but expressed skepticism about it.
‘The bill has a problem beyond violating the 1st. [Amendment]’ he wrote on X along with a screenshot of all the examples of anti-Semitism that would be included in the IHRA definition.
‘Should people in the United States be prosecuted for saying these things in all contexts? I do not think so. This is an ill-conceived unconstitutional bill and I will vote against it.’
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she would vote against the bill because it “could condemn Christians of anti-Semitism for believing in the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.”
One of the examples of antisemitism listed by the IHRA is “the use of symbols and images associated with classical antisemitism (for example, claims that Jews killed Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.”
Democratic Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries supported the bill even though he had urged Johnson to adopt a different one that would have allowed the White House broader authority over a task force on anti-Semitism.
“We should do everything we can seriously and sensibly to combat anti-Semitism, crush it, bury it and make sure it never arises again,” he told DailyMail.com.
Columbia University was forced to call the New York police for the second time in a week about students who took control of a building on campus, arresting about 300 students and expelling them.
Meanwhile, Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., accused, said the bill spearheaded by Lawler is “doing real harm to the issue of anti-Semitism, which I feel very strongly about.”
Jayapal claimed that the bill is so broadly defined that many Jewish groups do not support it.
‘Then why would you do that? Except if you want to weaponize anti-Semitism and you want to use it as a political ploy,” she said. “Let’s remember that many of these Republicans didn’t say a word when Donald Trump and others in Charlottesville and elsewhere were saying truly anti-Semitic things.”
Several free speech groups pressured members to vote against the bill.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called on its members to oppose the bill: ‘Federal law already prohibits anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment by federally funded entities. Therefore, HR 6090 is not necessary to protect against anti-Semitic discrimination; instead, it would likely curb students’ free speech on university campuses by incorrectly equating criticism of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism.
“Today, Congress will vote on legislation that will stifle free speech on campus and unconstitutionally restrict speech protected by the First Amendment,” FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, wrote in X.
Lawler said it was “up to Congress to act” because “these school administrators have allowed rabid anti-Semitism to rise” and President Joe Biden “does not have the ability to show up in Columbia and speak out against it.”
‘There are Democrats like Jerry Nadler who say: Well, I’m against this. Meanwhile, he was a co-sponsor of a bill that literally did the exact same thing this bill was going to do just several Congresses ago. So that should indicate how far the Democratic Party has come when it comes to fighting anti-Semitism.