The House of Representatives passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023. It defers to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) to define antisemitism and allows for the “enforcement of Federal anti-discrimination laws concerning education programs or activities, and for other purposes.”
The IHRA working definition of antisemitism includes criticism of Israel and “claims of Jews killing Jesus.” So…the Bible? Does the house really want to forbid people from criticizing Israel as law? That’s chilling!
Antisemitism is abhorrent but it is a First Amendment right. This was established by the Supreme Court in the 1977 case National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie. This case was defended by a Jewish ACLU lawyer David Goldberger on behalf of a Nazi group in Illinois. Goldberg would later write about this case: “The power to censor Nazis includes the power to censor protesters of all stripes and to prevent the press from publishing embarrassing facts and criticism that government officials label as ‘fake news.’”
Defending speech you don’t like is an American value. Has the House forgotten that?
