US House Approves Antisemitism Bill

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Facts

• Amid increased concerns over nationwide pro-Palestine campus protests, the US House on Wednesday passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act by a vote of 320 to 91.¹
• The bill mandates the Department of Education to apply the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition of antisemitism when enforcing anti-discrimination laws.²
• The IHRA defines antisemitism as 'a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.'³
• Including the Alliance's definition of antisemitism in the law allows the Department of Education to limit funding for campuses that are found to be in violation.⁴
• Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) introduced the bipartisan legislation, which will now be sent to the Senate for review.³
• The law comes amid intense pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel campus protests that have sprung up on college campuses across the country. The US Senate is reportedly considering a similar legislation.⁵

Sources: ¹CNN, ²ABC News, ³The Hill, ⁴Al Jazeera and ⁵TheTimesof Israel.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Senate. There's an urgent need to fight antisemitism on US college campuses. Violently antisemitic rhetoric has no place among students and young adults and by adopting the IHRA's definition of antisemitism this law goes a long way toward protecting the safety of Jewish students in America.
• Narrative B, as provided by The Hill. This is a bill that goes too far in defining hate speech and frames the issue in bad faith with vital missing context. It's important to fight antisemitism, but not at the expense of constitutional freedom of speech or in violation of one's religious beliefs.

Predictions