Antisemitism Awareness Act: a Bipartisan Action for the Enforcement of Anti-Discrimination Laws on Education Programs
According to a study by the American Jewish Committee, more than 50% of American Jews have changed their behavior in the last two months due to fear of antisemitism.
For the past nine months, we have been working on that bill. It is bipartisan. Kathy Manning is a Democrat from North Carolina and co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism.
The Antisemitism Awareness Act would see the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism for the enforcement of federal anti-discrimination laws regarding education programs.
The purpose of this project is to provide an enforcement mechanism where there are no existing ones. “And I want to be clear: the legislation would empower the federal Department of Education not to impose a monitor on every college or university, only when there’s reason to suspect a violation of Title VI.”
“Just knowing that something has happened to your friends, or to people you know in a place you’re familiar with, makes it difficult to have a sense that this is your campus,” she said. “These things do build up.”
“There are things like intimidation, or being openly Jew or taking a direct route across campus,” she said. It isn’t always a lack of physical safety. Sometimes it manifests as being unwelcome in a class or feeling like people’s viewpoints or perspectives are not respected.”
The student was at the meeting with Johnson. She said calls for the safety of students doesn’t just include physical well-being.
Antisemitism on College Campuses: The Real Story of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Campaign, and a Commentary from Rep. Jerry Nadler
“I’ve heard, ‘We want all Zionists off campus.’ I’ve heard death to the state of Zionism. And as a Jew, I feel that Zionism and Judaism can be teased apart with a tremendous amount of care and compassion and knowledge,” he said. “But it is a dog whistle that people use when talking about the Jews.”
“If there are Black students, who claim to experience racism, we rightly respect their experiences. The same would be true of Latino students, the same would be true of Asian students,” he said. Why are we questioning the validity of the experiences of Jewish students if they say they don’t feel safe? Why are we not sensitivity for every other group?
The House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday aimed at addressing reports of rising antisemitism on college campuses, where activists angered by Israel’s war against Hamas have been protesting for months and more recently set up encampments on campus grounds.
“This definition adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance includes ‘contemporary examples of antisemitism’,” said Rep. Jerry Nadler in a speech on the House floor ahead of the vote. “The problem is that these examples may include protected speech in some context, particularly with respect to criticism of the state of Israel.”
“Right now, without a clear definition of antisemitism, the Department of Education and college administrators are having trouble discerning whether conduct is antisemitic or not, whether the activity we’re seeing crosses the line into antisemitic harassment,” he said on the House floor before passage.
There is a false belief that the definition suppresses criticism of the Israeli government. I consider it complete nonsense,” Torres said in an interview with NPR.
“You know, it’s impossible to take the politics out of politics, but the fight against all forms of hate, including antisemitism, should transcend partisan politics,” he said.
Anarchy, Antisemitism, and Democracy in the 21st Century: A Conversation with Columbia University Students and Representatives
Mike Johnson visited Columbia University last week where he was met by demonstrators demanding that the school stop doing business with companies that operate in Israel. Johnson and a handful of GOP lawmakers met with a group of Jewish students.
“They are really concerned that their voices are not being heard when they may complain about being assaulted, being spit on, being told that all Jews should die — and they are not getting any response from the individuals who are literally being paid to protect them,” Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., told NPR of the meeting.
“Antisemitism is a virus and it will spread if it’s not stamped out,” Johnson said. “We have to act, and House Republicans will speak to this fateful moment with moral clarity.”
“Many of these Republicans didn’t say a word when Trump and others in Charlottesville and other places were saying truly antisemitic things. She said they want to bring forward bills that divide Democrats and weaponize this.
The increasing of protests on and around her campus has made Eliana feel unsafe, she said.
Many people have been harassed because of their Jewish star necklace, according to Goldin. Goldin was one student who received a message from Rabbi Elie Buechler of Columbia a week ago.
The events of the last few days has made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee student safety in light of extreme antisemitism and anarchy, according to a message. It hurts me to say that you should return home immediately and stay there until the reality in and around campus improves.
Some of the antisemitic events that have received national attention have come from people outside of the university according to demonstrators.
Goldin said she was part of an interaction that got a lot of online attention of someone yelling at her and others to “go back to Poland.” She said she was disappointed with the response from the Columbia community, despite the fact that the person was probably not a student.