STATEMENT: CRITICIZING ISRAEL SHOULD NOT BE EQUATED WITH ANTI-SEMITISM
On Thursday, December 1st, the Senate unanimously passed the “Anti-Semitism Awareness Act,” which claims to be a solution to problems of antisemitism on college campuses across America. However, the bill’s misguided definition of anti-Semitism, drawn from the European Parliament Working Group on Anti-Semitism (EUMC) conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. It is IfNotNow’s position that classifying any criticism of Israel’s human rights violations as anti-Semitism is a gross exaggeration. We are deeply disappointed that Jewish institutions are choosing to turn their backs on the young people they claim to represent by actively working to limit our free speech. This is a clear attempt to silence movements active on campus (many of which include young American Jews) that are working towards ending the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, thereby violating their rights to Freedom of Speech guaranteed by the First Amendment.
The bill, introduced by Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Tim Scott (R-SC), is backed by many leading American Jewish institutions, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Jewish Federations of North America and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. These institutions support a bill which aims to silence student movements, many of which include the young American Jews they claim to represent. Meanwhile, they remain silent on the appointment of White nationalist anti-Semites to positions of power in the US government, such as Stephen Bannon.
If these groups and elected officials cared about Jewish safety, they would do everything in their power to make sure Bannon does not set foot in the White House, rather than pursuing false charges of anti-Semitism against students who are advocating for Palestinian rights. If they cared about peace in the Middle East, they would do everything in their power to bring freedom and dignity to Israelis and Palestinians, denouncing the occupation as the moral disaster it is. Doing neither shows the public that they simply do not care.
The bill failed to pass through the Senate before Congress began recess, but we believe that the Jewish Establishment may try and push it through once Congress is back in session.
We call on the ADL, AIPAC and the Jewish Federations to revoke their support of this bill and instead join us in fighting against oppression of all people, including opposing the occupation and fighting the ascendancy of white supremacy, islamophobia and anti-Semitism in this country. The U.S. House and Senate must fight anti-Semitism alongside other forms of oppression, such as Islamophobia, racism, sexism, and homophobia. This especially includes the brutal oppression of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
Jewish institutions have a powerful choice to make in this moment. Will they stand for endless occupation or will they stand for freedom and dignity for all? We call on our institutions to choose the latter, standing up for our values in a time when so much is at stake.
