Back in 2016, without debate or an actual vote, the US Senate stealthily passed a disturbing and dangerous piece of legislation called “The Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2016” (AAA). The bill would have required the Department of Education (ED) to apply a State Department (DOS) working definition of anti-Semitism in evaluating complaints of discrimination on US campuses. Because some conservative Members of Congress had concerns that the legislation would violate free speech, AAA didn’t pass the House and died.
Last week, the bill was reintroduced with minor changes. As I wrote back in 2016, the AAA was (and still is) “dumb and dangerous”. Far from being designed to combat anti-Semitism, it is a thinly veiled effort to inhibit pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses.
Here’s why the AAA is “dumb and dangerous”:
The working definition of anti-Semitism advanced by the legislation was designed to help officials monitor anti-Semitism abroad. It was not intended to be applied to police speech on college campuses in the US.
In developing the definition and guidance, the DOS adopted language used by the European Union Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC),
There are several examples of contemporary anti-Semitism mentioned in the guidance, including: “Accusing Jews, as a people, of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, the State of Israel, or even for acts committed by non-Jews”; or “making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews - or the power of Jews - as a collective”.
These and other examples cited in the guidance are objectively anti-Semitic and patently wrong.
This language is so vague and open to interpretation that when the University of California Board of Regents was being pressed to apply the working definition to California campuses, the lead author of the EUMC definition of anti-Semitism objected, pointing out the dangers this would present to free speech. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has added that “if this bill becomes law, political speech critical of Israel will likely be censored... colleges and universities may suppress a wide variety of speech critical of Israel or in support of Palestinian rights in an effort to avoid investigations by the Department (of Education) and the potential loss of funding.”
If the bill is dangerous and even unnecessary, then why was it introduced? Reading the “fact sheet” attached to the legislation revealed the AAA’s sinister political intent – and that is, silencing campus student movements and activities that are critical of Israel, in particular the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction movement (BDS). In a new development, a number of states have either passed or are considering versions of the AAA.
These efforts tell Palestinian and progressive Jewish students that their speech will be policed and that they may be subject to penalties. I understand awful and hurtful things have been said and that some pro-Israel students may feel “uncomfortable” in some instances, or that the BDS debate on their campuses may make them feel like they are in a “hostile” environment. But it is inexcusable to ignore the harassment and threats and defamation endured by students who are advocating for Palestinian rights.
Compounding my concern with the AAA is the fact that this week the Senate in a straight partisan vote confirmed Kenneth Marcus as the ED’s assistant secretary for civil rights – the office that will investigate and sanction colleges and universities found in violation of the AAA’s definition of anti-Semitism.
According to the ACLU, during his time heading a group that monitored anti-Semitism, Marcus encouraged Jewish student groups to file complaints with the ED “precisely because they pressure schools to suppress speech critical of Israel. If the AAA becomes law, with Marcus at ED enforcing its provisions, it will be rough sailing for free speech and open debate about the Israel-Palestinian conflict on US campuses – which is exactly outcome the AAA’s sponsors intended.