{"id":645,"date":"2024-05-03T21:02:25","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T18:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/?p=645"},"modified":"2024-05-03T21:02:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T18:02:29","slug":"the-antisemitism-awareness-act-is-a-full-frontal-assault-on-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/?p=645","title":{"rendered":"The Antisemitism Awareness Act is a full frontal assault on free speech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Omar Suleiman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\/<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Texas state troopers and University of Texas Police detain a woman at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas on 24 April, 2024 (Reuters)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, American politicians sought to equate anti-Zionism with antisemitism<\/a>. Now, they want to redefine anti semitism itself.

This week, the US<\/a> House of Representatives voted to approve the Antisemitism Awareness Act<\/a>, which can be characterised as the Israel<\/a> lobby\u2019s legislative agenda of codifying the criminalisation of anti-Israel sentiments by redefining antisemitism.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It calls<\/a> for the \u201cconsideration of a definition of antisemitism set forth by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance [IHRA] for the enforcement of Federal antidiscrimination laws concerning education programs or activities\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But why the IHRA definition, and why now? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With more than 34,500 Palestinians<\/a> killed during Israel\u2019s war on Gaza<\/a>, approximately 70 percent<\/a> of whom are women and children; college campuses across the country erupting with protests<\/a>; demands from faculty, staff and students to divest from Israeli companies and institutions; and public opinion about the Israeli occupation<\/a> shifting toward the Palestinians, the Israel lobby has been working in overdrive. Its focus is Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last November, Representative David Kustoff (a Republican from Tennessee) introduced a resolution<\/a> that deliberately mischaracterised opposition to settler-colonialism, Israeli human rights abuses, occupation and apartheid as antisemitism. \u201cAnti-Zionism is antisemitism,\u201d it noted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It passed, despite last-ditch efforts by three Jewish Democrats who urged<\/a> their colleagues to avoid what they termed an \u201cattempt by Republicans to weaponize Jewish pain and the serious problem of antisemitism to score cheap political points\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinister calculation<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With the Antisemitism Awareness Act, the pro-Israel lobby has engineered and delivered another politicised and disingenuous bill to the House floor. Resolution 6090<\/a>, which is now moving to the Senate, seeks to define antisemitism exclusively by the IHRA\u2019s working definition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe term \u2018definition of antisemitism\u2019 means the definition of antisemitism adopted [by the IHRA] \u2026 and includes the \u2018contemporary examples of antisemitism\u2019 identified in the IHRA definition,\u201d it notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are millions of Americans antisemitic for simply stating that Israel is a racist ethnostate, all while it maintains a system of apartheid that dominates Palestinians?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A quick glance at the aforementioned examples reveals that this redefinition is a sinister calculation. They include<\/a> actions and language such as \u201cclaiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour\u201d, and \u201capplying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is political chicanery, proposed as a crackdown on antisemitism. Even more worrisome, it would penalise political speech protected by the First Amendment.

The American Civil Liberties Union confirmed<\/a> as much in a letter to House members: \u201cFederal law already prohibits antisemitic discrimination and harassment by federally funded entities. H.R. 6090 \u2026 would likely chill free speech of students on college campuses by incorrectly equating criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism.\u201d

Are millions of Americans antisemitic for simply stating that Israel is a racist ethnostate, all while it maintains a system of apartheid<\/a> that dominates Palestinians? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attack on free speech<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Nearly six years ago, the Israeli Knesset passed the Jewish nation-state law<\/a>, codifying that \u201cthe right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people\u201d. Are millions of Americans antisemitic for expecting Israel not to commit genocide<\/a> over the past seven months? Have other democratic states killed more than 34,000 people and caused humanitarian catastrophes in that timeframe?

In the context of the current Gaza protests<\/a> and encampments on university campuses across the country, this bill should be interpreted as an attack on freedom of speech and a threat to First Amendment rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it becomes law, students, academics and activists will be forced to reform their otherwise innocent language, all due to a politicised piece of legislation. The bill\u2019s language doubles down on its argument that the IHRA definition should be exclusive, stating<\/a> that \u201calternative definitions\u201d could impair enforcement efforts \u201cby adding multiple standards and may fail to identify many of the modern manifestations of antisemitism\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Orwellian attempt to make the IHRA definition of antisemitism exclusive reeks of foul play. The reference to \u201cmodern manifestations\u201d is inorganic, arguing that previous definitions that did not include references to Israel were not encompassing enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Americans are sick and tired of their country\u2019s complicity in Israeli human rights abuses. While millions struggle to get by at home, Congress continues to send billions of dollars<\/a> for Israel to continue its genocide, escalate its occupation, accelerate its illegal settlement expansion and maintain its apartheid. When Americans decide to voice their outrage and their opposition to archaic and inhumane foreign policy decisions vis-a-vis Israel, they are subject to heavy crackdowns<\/a>. Don\u2019t protest. Don\u2019t boycott. Don\u2019t demand divestment. And all the while, the goalposts continue to shift.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Omar Suleiman Texas state troopers and University of Texas Police detain a woman at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas on 24 April, 2024 (Reuters) First, American politicians sought to equate anti-Zionism with antisemitism. Now, they want to redefine anti semitism itself. This week, the US House of Representatives voted to approve the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which can be characterised as the Israel lobby\u2019s legislative agenda of codifying the criminalisation of anti-Israel sentiments by redefining antisemitism.\u00a0 It calls for the \u201cconsideration of a definition of antisemitism set forth by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance [IHRA] for the enforcement of Federal antidiscrimination laws concerning education programs or activities\u201d.  But why the IHRA definition, and why now?  With more than 34,500 Palestinians killed during Israel\u2019s war on Gaza, approximately 70 percent of whom are women and children; college campuses across the country erupting with protests; demands from faculty, staff and students to divest from Israeli companies and institutions; and public opinion about the Israeli occupation shifting toward the Palestinians, the Israel lobby has been working in overdrive. Its focus is Washington. Last November, Representative David Kustoff (a Republican from Tennessee) introduced a resolution that deliberately mischaracterised opposition to settler-colonialism, Israeli …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":"[]"},"categories":[22,24,27,38],"tags":[48,46,39,42,45],"class_list":["post-645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-palestine","category-news-solidarity-movement","category-news-palestinian-diaspora","category-varieties","tag-freepalestine","tag-gazawar","tag-palestine","tag-protest","tag-standwithpalestine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Antisemitism Awareness Act is a full frontal assault on free speech - Republic Palestine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This week, the US House of Representatives voted to approve the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which can be characterised as the Israel lobby\u2019s legislative agenda\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/?p=645\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Antisemitism Awareness Act is a full frontal assault on free speech\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week, the US House of Representatives voted to approve the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which can be characterised as the Israel lobby\u2019s legislative agenda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/?p=645\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Republic Palestine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-03T18:02:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-03T18:02:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-03-at-9.01.29\u202fPM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1184\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"RepublicofPalestine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"RepublicofPalestine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/?p=645\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/?p=645\",\"name\":\"The Antisemitism Awareness Act is a full frontal assault on free speech - 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