Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has reportedly moved to add the Antisemitism Awareness Act into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), sparking debate about free speech concerns.
The Antisemitism Awareness Act is meant to add protections to Jewish students as violence towards the community becomes increasingly common, though critics of the bill argue the act may not succeed in its goal and instead would “police speech.” Adding the bill into the must-pass NDAA, an annual bill that establishes defense policy, allows the bill to bypass a congressional vote and, if its addition is approved, nearly guarantees its passage, according to Jewish Insider.
“This bill, however well intentioned to protect students from antisemitic unlawful conduct on campus, would prohibit a lot of constitutionally protected speech related to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, and runs contrary to long-standing First Amendment precedents,” Tyler Coward, legal counsel for government affairs at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “It would not protect Jewish students, because when put under judicial scrutiny, the law wouldn’t survive…it’s likely to be struck down by the courts.”
The bill has faced scrutiny over defining statements like “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination” and “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” as antisemitic.
Coward pointed to a recent Executive Order signed by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that used a similar definition of antisemitism and is now facing legal challenge.
Other free speech experts disagree that the bill would do more harm than good, arguing its necessity for protecting Jewish students.
“I’m quite sensitive to anything, whether with respect to civil rights law or otherwise, that could chill speech, but this does not,” Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, told the DCNF. “What this legislation does is beef up and clarify what it is to take actions that are antisemitic and therefore in violation of the of the Civil Rights Act. But it doesn’t touch speech.”
Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who was recently nominated by President-elect Donald Trump for the attorney general position, also voiced his opposition to the act in a now-deleted tweet, calling it a “ridiculous hate speech bill.”
Schumer has reportedly faced pressure from pro-Israel groups to pass the act and previously promised to make it a priority after the election, according to Axios.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) told the DCNF they “strongly support” the bill and consider it an “essential tool in the fight against antisemitism.”
“The Antisemitism Awareness Act reinforces the use of the [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IRHA)] Working Definition of Antisemitism – the preeminent definition of antisemitism – in addressing campus harassment, in line with policy that has been in effect since at least 2019,” ADL said in a statement. “These bills will offer us the means needed to protect Jewish students and faculty, and the Jewish community more widely, in this moment of crisis.”
Violent anti-Israel protests on campuses across the nation have prompted calls for lawmakers to take more action against antisemitism, especially after congressional reports revealed many university leaders knowingly refrained from defending Jewish students.
Gaetz and Schumer did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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