The House has passed legislation that would establish a broader definition of antisemitism for the Department of Education to enforce anti-discrimination laws.

‘If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would broaden the legal definition of antisemitism to include the “targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.’"

Pardon me, but what is this horseshit?

  • aleph@lemm.eeOPEnglish
    841·
    8 months ago

    For those who aren’t aware, this bill aims to effectively enshrine into law the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which has been a controversial doctrine since its inception because critics say it unnecessarily curtails freedom of speech.

    Hell, even the Zionist Anti-Defamation League say on their website that the IHRA definition is a guideline that should not be codified into law because it could be used to infringe the First Amendment:

    ADL does not support the adoption and application of the IHRA Definition in a manner that would create new categories of legally prohibited speech that are subjected to either civil or criminal penalties – something we believe the First Amendment and principles of free speech would prevent.

    This bill does very little that existing legislation does not already except have a chilling effect on freedom of speech on university campuses, and the fact that it got such widespread support from both Democrats and Republicans in the House is an absolute farce.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      81·
      8 months ago

      It’s a terrible bill, but I feel fairly confident that this will not get through the Senate, so I’m not all that concerned about it. It’s performative at best.