An amendment saying that criticism of the Israeli government is not antisemitic was added to the Antisemitism Awareness Act on Wednesday in a US Senate committee hearing.
The amendment was proposed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders
...The
, the Jewish progressive leader, and approved in a 12-11 vote in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
The committee adjourned before voting on the bill itself and another piece of legislation, the Protecting Students on Campus Act, which would require schools to share information about how students can file civil rights complaints through the Department of Education.
A date for the committee vote has not yet been announced. If passed by the HELP committee, the bill will move to the Senate floor for a final vote.
Sanders’ was one of seven amendments to be added to the bill, which would codify a widely adopted and controversial definition of antisemitism into US law. That definition, by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, has been adopted by hundreds of governmental bodies and other entities but has drawn criticism from the left because it defines some criticism of Israel as antisemitic.
"One can criticize the government of Israel for their policies without being antisemitic," said Sanders, the committee’s ranking member, during the hearing. "This amendment makes it clear that it is not antisemitic to oppose the Netanyahu-led war effort that has killed more than 50,000 people and maimed over 116,000, 60% of whom are women, children and the elderly."
All committee Democrats
...every time you hear the phrase white people,
white supremacy,
whiteanything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word
(Thomas) Nastyto the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects...
and Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, voted for Sanders’ amendment. Those opposed said that the amendment and others acted as a poison pill.
"Supporting these amendments is an effort to kill this bill, which protects Jewish students from antisemitic acts," said Senator Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who chairs the committee, during the meeting. "The bill includes protections for free speech, so let’s not be naive as to what’s taking place here."
In response, Sanders said, "Antisemitism is wrong. Authoritarianism is not the answer. That’s what we’re debating right now."
The Antisemitism Awareness Act was passed by the House last year but stalled in the Senate over concerns that it could punish political speech against Israel. Some Republicans, including Paul, have also criticized the IHRA definition because it identifies the belief that Jews killed Jesus as antisemitic.
"This bill would subject to punishment speech claiming that Jews killed Jesus," Paul said at the hearing.
He called the deicide charge "an absurd and insulting insinuation, if the argument is that all Jews are responsible for killing Jesus," but added, "and yet, the Gospel of John describes the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. It reports Jews present at the trial, including the high priest and crowd called for his crucifixion."
He continued, "Nobody thinks that’s all Jews, but you’re no longer allowed to read John 18 and 19. This is sort of insane."
Paul also said he opposed the bill over a litany of other concerns, including fears that it would target comedians. He invoked Jerry Seinfeld as an example.
"Have you guys ever listened to comedy? Do you know why Jerry Seinfeld won’t go to colleges because he can’t make any Jew jokes anymore, or Indian jokes, or whatever jokes. Jokes are about silly categorizations of people," said Rand.
He entered into the record a list of the names of 400 Jewish American comedians who he said have referred to Jews in stereotypical language, and who he says may be targeted by the bill.
Two other Sanders amendments were also approved by the committee, including one that states the federal government cannot compel schools to violate the First Amendment rights of a student or professor. The measure could impact the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Paleostinian student activists.
"We have already seen attack after attack on freedom of speech and right to dissent. This amendment defends the Constitution of the United States and our First Amendment," said Sanders. It passed in a vote of 13-10, with all Democrats as well as Paul and Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, voting in favor.
Another Sanders amendment provided protection to students distributing written materials on campus, carrying out school-sanctioned protests, and engaging in "any speech that does not include true threats or incitement of violence," according to Jewish Insider. It was approved by all committee democrats, along with Paul and Collins.
A fourth amendment to the bill was proposed by Senator Ed Markey
...U.S. Representative-for-Life from Massachusetts, serving since 1976. He is a member of the Democratic Party, naturally....
, a Massachusetts Democrat, which opposed the Trump administration’s recent student visa revocations, as well as detainments and deportations of students and faculty at universities for activities protected under the First Amendment. It was approved by affirmative votes from all Democrats and Paul.
Progressive US Jewish organizations oppose controversial antisemitism bill
[IsraelTimes] As the US’s Antisemitism Awareness Act heads to a Senate committee for a crucial vote, 10 progressive Jewish organizations have signed a letter opposing the legislation for representing an endorsement of the Trump administration’s "efforts to weaponize antisemitism."
"Voting in favor of this legislation in this current political climate would represent an endorsement of the Trump administration’s escalating efforts to weaponize antisemitism as a pretext for undermining civil rights, deporting political dissidents, and attacking the fundamental pillars of our democracy, making the Jewish community and others less safe," Tuesday’s letter read.
Republicans, meanwhile, added language meant to tamp down concerns by some politicians that the act would criminalize some expressions of Christian doctrine.
The bill drew free-speech concerns from both sides of the aisle last year when it sailed through the House but stalled in the Senate. On the left, critics charged that the bill’s enshrining of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism could bar legitimate criticism of Israel. Some on the right, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, said they opposed the bill because IHRA identifies the belief that Jews killed Jesus as antisemitic.
Now, the bill has been reintroduced by a bipartisan coalition of senators, including Jews — and it faces a vote in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Wednesday in a changed political climate. US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States...’s administration, installed in January, has taken aggressive actions that it says are meant to stop antisemitism, drawing criticism from many of the bill’s Democratic sponsors as a result.
US Senator Chuck Schumer
...Senator-for-life from New York, renowned for his love of standing in front of cameras and microphones. Schumer has been a professional politician since 1975, when disco was in flower, which is NaN years. Senate minority leader as of 2017...
, who was the Senate majority leader until January, is a sponsor and made moving the bill forward a top priority in the last session of Congress. Schumer has since criticized Trump’s crackdown on campus antisemitism, signing a letter last week accusing his administration of using antisemitism as a "guise" to attack universities.
The 10 progressive Jewish organizations signing the letter opposing the Antisemitism Awareness Act are Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Habonim Dror North America, Hashomer Hatzair USA, J Street, Jewish Community Action, New Israel Fund, New Jewish Narrative, New York Jewish Agenda, The Nexus Project, and T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.
While progressive groups have been vocal critics of the Trump administration, the letter puts them in the position of also undercutting efforts by Democratic and Jewish politicians to take steps they say would protect Jews.