Last July, the U.S. House of Representatives passed, with bipartisan support, a resolution stating that “Israel is not a racist or apartheid state.” At the beginning of May, a bipartisan majority of the House voted through the Antisemitism Awareness Act, a bill requiring the U.S. Department of Education to use the definition of antisemitism articulated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance when addressing allegations of discrimination on university campuses.
According to the IHRA definition, arguing that the state of Israel is a “racist endeavor” would constitute antisemitism. If the bill is passed into law, the Department of Education will presumably issue regulations about what speech is forbidden, and it may withhold federal funds from offending universities. Read full article.