The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a bill that conflates criticism of the modern state of Israel with antisemitism and will mandate that definition be used by the Department of Education when enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws.
The bill could be used to crack down on pro-Palestine protesters at college campuses across the country, who have been falsely labeled “antisemitic” despite Jewish students participating in the protests.
The legislation adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which lists “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” as an example of antisemitism.
The IHRA also defines antisemitism as applying “double standards” to Israel by “requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation” and “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination” by “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.”
The bill passed in a vote of 320-91 and now heads to the Senate for a vote, and received “no” votes from 21 Republicans and 70 Democrats. Opponents said they voted against the legislation because it threatened the First Amendment.
“Antisemitism is wrong, but this legislation is written without regard for the Constitution, common sense, or even the common understanding of the meaning of words,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) wrote on X ahead of the vote.
Gaetz pointed to another part of the IHRA’s definition that lists “claims of the Jews killing Jesus” as an example of antisemitism. “The Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of this bill!” he said.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) opposed the bill and said it was put forward with the intent to “increase prosecutions of activity on campuses.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) also criticized the bill. “Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination,” he said. “By encompassing purely political speech about Israel into Title VI’s ambit, the bill sweeps too broadly.”
Nadler made similar comments last year when opposing a bill that conflated anti-Zionism with antisemitism, noting that there are Jews who oppose Zionism. “This resolution ignores the fact that even today, certain orthodox Hasidic Jewish communities—the Satmars in New York and others—as well as adherents of the pre-state Jewish labor movement have held views that are at odds with the modern Zionist conception,” he said.
I don’t expect any nation to commit genocide and ethnic cleansing.
I certainly never expected my nation to support and enable genocide and ethnic cleansing, either.
Native Americans and African Americans are not surprised. And the fire bombings of Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were pretty dreadful. And don’t forget the US using its veto to support apartheid in South Africa.
Meanwhile, at Washington University in St. Louis, a history professor at Southern Illinois University was assaulted by police. What done to him is horrifying. *note the man pointing him out then watched as he was continually assaulted and then dragged across the grass. From wsws.org: https://twitter.com/prem_thakker/status/1785397144515469402 Sorry, RS has seen fit to delete the video. Go to wsws.org Look up article on NYU protests and the UCLA attack on Pro-Palestinian protesters, obviously coordinated with the police.
AlterNet won’t even publish posts with links to Caitlin Johnstone and AntiWar any longer, the post just goes into Pending Review and stays there forever.
Gotta love Big Bother……………..we are all Winston now.
Where were all these Goon Squads when Antifa and BLM were burning and looting during the 2020 “Summer of Love”?
It’s simply criticism of GENOCIDE, not of Israel or Jewish people in general. With that said, Israel’s IDF routinely kills Christians through out the Gaza strip and WEst BAnk. They hate Christians and Muslims, as does the UN (USSA) government. Now, just exactly why are we handing them a dime over $6B? Read the damn link before popping off know it all Israeli government supporters. Thanks.
I believe we’ve finally got it. If you’re able to type Control+F “Neo-Zionist” from #2 on will dovetail with what Anti-War readers have said for years. Unfortunately, we don’t have the ability to substantiate very much in the comments thread for lack of space. Enjoy:
https://roninhardjan.substack.com/p/americas-shadow-government-behind
Yes, but especially the nation my taxes are paying for …
Neo-Zionists (those who favor ethnically cleansing the Gaza strip and West Bank of Muslims and Christians) control the world banking system, media, as well as our politicians.
I believe we’ve finally got it. If you’re able to type Control+F “Neo-Zionist” from #2 on will dovetail with what Anti-War readers have said for years. Unfortunately, we don’t have the ability to substantiate very much in the comments thread for lack of space. Enjoy:
https://roninhardjan.substack.com/p/americas-shadow-government-behind
The USA committed genocide against the Native American Indians and just about every nation it has “intervened” in! It’s amazing how after many years the accusations of a nuclear Iran are accepted as gospel, even though the facts prove otherwise, while Israel’s OBVIOUS OPEN practice of genocide gets treated with “POSSIBLE war crimes” by the mainstream media and Western “leaders”.
I was referring to this:
No one should expect genocide from any country. No country should be beyond demands to stop genocide.
There’s something wrong when I’m actually agreeing with Gaetz about something.
Let’s just say we agree with Massie.
“drawing comparisons of the modern Israeli policy to that of the Nazis ”
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck …
Well, I mean, most accurately, the modern Apartheid State of Israel (ASI) is more like ducks, whereas the Nazis were more like birds.
Yes, exactly the distinction I am making…
Actually, both are more like pigs.
Remember U.S. use to have a first amendment? You can now go to your local museum and ask the tour guide what was that all about.
It’s still there:
From the First Amendment (ratified in 1791) :
“Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble. ”
The Uniparty Swamp should read the US Bill of Rights once in a while. I’m sure the Supreme Court is familiar with it.
Wrong. Commenters fail in their civics class. Reliable sources indicate that Republicans will attempt to fast track this bill in the second house of Congress, the Senate. Only one Senator is needed to stop this. Requiring the standard debate on the Senate floor. That is a mere 1% of the Senate.
When speech becomes outlawed, the time for words has passed.
Nothing will come out of it. Slavery is reborn.
Almost sixty years ago I became a felon because I returned my draft card, burned the replacement card and refused induction. Now congress labeled me an anti semite. For the record, Israel’s genocidal policy is taken right from Hitler’s playbook and the world will be better off when the Zionist state ceases to exist.
Darn it, Shmi, every time you’ve gone and said something daft & then you reveal this tidbit of your history and I gotta say, “Well, turns out this kid is OK after all.”
Israel would be better off without the Zionist indoctrination of the population of Israel. It is no wonder that a large proportion of the population of Israel is all in on the genocide, pictures of babies with amputated limbs, pictures of dead bodies wrapped in white sheets. When it is done, history will be erased, modified, to fit an image so that our youngsters of the future will not have a clue. I expect the Ministry of Information to bend to the moneyed interests and have “representatives” pass laws banning the truth in libraries from sea to shining sea. One just passed. The one about anti-Semitism. A “representative” has proposed “anti-Semitism Monitors” at colleges and universities. Hitler Youth reborn, with the Jewish Star as the symbol, rather than the swastika. A Clockwork Orange……………….
So now the gospels are anti-Semitic.
I guess the anonymous authors copying off each other hated Judaism so much they intentionally included contradictions and narrative errors ?
How about we just change the definition of antisemitism to “truths that the donor class finds inconvenient” and get it over with already?
And I just got locked out of Twitter for a day because I tweeted that the LAPD should get the same thing Netanyahu should get: a missile in the face.
Elon Musk is a fucking Zionist, too, let’s not forget.
If they make the label Zionist illegal, can they be called Zionoid? Ziophile? ZioUkrainian? Ziopeacebygenociders? Zioa$$ki$$ers? …What’s that? …Oh no. I’m asking for a friend. …His name? I shouldn’t say. You want to waterboard me? …Okay. It’s George Orwell.
“His name? I shouldn’t say. You want to waterboard me? …Okay. It’s George Orwell.”
‘Good answer. Yer not as dumb as ya’ look. And where can we pay a little visit t’ this Mister Or-well o’yours?’
You can find his face under your boot.
… forever.
Agree 1000%. That makes a difference. Love his writings: “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever” –George Orwell’s 1984.
in my version it goes:
you: ‘england’
interrogator: ‘england in london? so yew admit yer mister doorwell’s a outside agitator!’
The LAPD stood down to allow the pro-zionist mob attack the pro-Palestinian protests (many of which are Jewish) with baseball bats, pepper spray, batons. When the police finally (at 2 AM) interfered, not one pro-zionist thug was arrested. It was a state ordered attack. Mayor Ball? No where to be seen. Not advertised is a factoid that she was on the board of the National Endowment for Democracy, a CIA cutout. My question is this: did she communicate with the LAPD to not interfere with the pro-zionist thugs, but instead arrest the pro-Palestinian protesters? A reasonable question, considering her background.
Makes sense. This sets our logo, “Freedom and Democracy,” on FIRE! Why do we need it if we’re starting WWIII!?
“Freedom and Democracy” in our homes, but were we to exercise our First Amendment rights……………….
Newspeak.
Who would think that, we have actually arrived at a point where there were more stupid members of Congress willing to write and pass this bill than representatives cautious and intelligent enough to be willing to resist it. The Idiocracy is real.
Substitute “evil” for “stupid”, and “kakistocracy” for “idiocracy” and you got it exactly right.
Nothing stupid about them. Bought and paid for are not permitted to think. Only to follow orders.
Correct. They are not stupid. They know where there campaign money comes from. Same for colleges and universities.
Have you ever read Upton Sinclair’s book, The Goose Step:A Study of American Education?
Sinclair: “Our educational system is not a public service, but an instrument ofspecial privilege; its purpose is not to further the welfare of mankind, but merely to keep America capitalist.”
No idea how it would achieve that. Surely laws and policy are made by Congress? And the plutocracy owns Congress.
Except that the public education system is socialist to the bone. The schools are owned by The State, and the teachers are employees of The State.
Nothing unusual here. I am old enough to remember when we had to sign Congressionally mandated loyalty oaths every semester before the colleges could disperse financial aid. Most congress members never gave a sh-t about the first amendment.
“Israel is an apartheid state and its policies toward non-Jews are similar to those of Nazi Germany.”
Feel free to quote me on this, and let them come get me.
I’m with you. Maybe we can get JK Rowling on side with us – she’s leaned in hard against bonny Scotland’s recent anti-hate speech law.
No established religion.
320 Congressmen : (editing with Sharpie) “No, established religion !”
Actually, both behave more like pigs.
They never said anything about comparing Israel to WW2 Imperial Japan though! Take that Zio-Tojos!
This law sucks and its lawmakers suck even more…!
The dictatorship has started now in full force …!
The bill does not contain a definition of anti-semitism.
Yes, it instead adopts the definition some other group came up with. I knew Congress was evil, but I didn’t know they were morons. Until now
Freedom of speech and Freedom of expression , in addition to a Free and Fair Press, are all that we require and indeed, commercially free, is a plus. Which is why we enjoy Antiwar.com, which is entirely free and merely relies on simple donations from All of Us. Piece of cake, which goes nicely with tea or coffee, the choice is yours, mine and ours.
Are dual American-Israeli citizens in the Congress allowed to vote on this?
Yep.
If there are any dual US-Israeli citizens in Congress, they’re allowed to vote on everything that Congress votes on.
In response to this bill, I assert the following:
. Many Jewish-Americans, by their actions, demonstrate that they are more loyal to Israel than to America.
. The state of Israel has proven to be a racist endeavor, and it has no right to exist.
. Israel’s violations of humans rights deserve to be particularly condemned, more than other nations’.
. Contemporary Israeli policy mirrors that of the Nazis.
When it comes to laws that prohibit such expression, I will not comply.
I dunno. You see more support for Israel among Christians nowadays. And more support for Palestinians among Jewish Americans. So this bill basically allows Christians to paint Jewish people as anti-Semitic. We’ve moved beyond “clown world” and have now entered “Bizzaro land”
So now the White House will sign into law a bill that targets democratic pro-Palestinian political action further – by using the ‘antisemitism’ smear to criminalize speech?
Looking at a new and improved Democratic Party lesser-of-two-evil extortionate demand:
No longer, ‘Vote Biden or you get Trump.’
Instead: ‘Shut your Jw-hating mouth and vote Biden – or you get Trump.’
another nail in the coffin of american democracy
@charliekirk11
Evidently restricting speech is more important than stopping a border invasion for House Republicans.
OR THE GENOCIDE IN GAZA. IT IS ENACTED TO PROTECT THOSE COMMITTING GENOCIDE FROM CRITICISM.
@RepThomasMassie
🧵 Today the House will vote on a bill to define antisemitism with the intent to increase prosecutions of activity on campuses.
The bill has a problem beyond violating the 1st Amdt:
The definition of antisemitism appears no where in the bill!
Why?
https://govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-118hr6090ih/pdf/BILLS-118hr6090ih.pdf
“The IHRA also defines antisemitism as applying “double standards” to Israel by “requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation””
Hey, the USA hasn’t demanded that Ukraine give up its neo-Nazi tendencies and military & political factions, so, certainly no double-standard applied there.
“…denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination…”
Protestors and opponents of Zionism haven’t done that. They’ve just opposed self-determination-by-way-of-ethnic-cleansing-and-mass-murder.
“…claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.”
Absolutely the endeavour IS racist. “A land for our kind and not yours” ??? TEXTBOOK DEFINITION.
Has the House, so called, forgotten its obligation to Freedom of the Press?… because, we the people have Not Forgotten it at All. I say this openly and with some objectivity, especially since, my own husband is, in fact, a Jew, whilst I am simply a Shiksa. ;-}
Both true, but why do we always need Jews in order to be allowed to have an opinion about Israel and Zionism, in order not to be called “anti-Semites”? Why do we always have to say “but there are also Jews who…” to qualify an opinion? The opinion stands on its own merit.
It reminds me of when Russian restaurants and community centers were terrorized when Russia prevented Kiev’s invasion of Donbass, or athletes were harrassed by the authorities. The few journos who wrote about this always “defended” the Russian owners or athletes by saying they “don’t support PUTIN’S war.” Why do the victims need to state that in order to have the right to not be targeted?
Time to shitcan this administration by voting Biden out of office.
https://twitter.com/prem_thakker/status/1785397144515469402 Why is my post not shown. The video comes from WSWS. org
Is RS running interference for the pro-Zionist crowd now?
Sem·ite
/ˈseˌmīt/
noun
plural noun: Semites
a member of any of the peoples who speak or spoke a Semitic language, including in particular the Jews AND Arabs.
Look at who benefits.
Ukraine, Israel, and the ADL.
Passed by congressmen bankrolled by AIPAC.
Any questions who is behind it?