Daily Alert Archives

Pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act

(Times of Israel) William Daroff - In the aftermath of the Hamas pogrom of October 7, 2023, campuses throughout the country became sites of exclusion, discrimination, and violence against Jewish college students. To address this problem, the Antisemitism Awareness Act (AAA) would instruct the U.S. Department of Education to take into account the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism in order to determine when harassment on campus may be motivated by anti-Jewish animus and therefore violates federal anti-discrimination statutes. The IHRA definition includes as examples of antisemitism the targeting of Jewish Americans for perceived association with or connection to the State of Israel. This connection seems more than vindicated by the events of the last 15 months. The campus antisemites demand the expulsion of Hillel Jewish student centers in the name of "anti-Zionism." Their comrades lay siege to synagogues and rampage through Jewish neighborhoods invoking the same logic. Anti-Zionism is antisemitism. The Antisemitism Awareness Act merely recognizes this reality and equips the Department of Education to protect our Jewish students. Congress must pass this critical legislation right now. Though the House overwhelmingly passed the AAA last spring, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will not schedule a vote on the bill. American Jews - and decent Americans of all faiths - demand Congress do the right thing: pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act before the current congressional term ends. The writer is CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
2024-12-15 00:00:00
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