House Passes Bill To Codify Definition Of Anti-Semitism

The GOP-led House passed a bill that would formalize an interpretation of anti-Semitism and serve as a guide for the enforcement of federal anti-discrimination laws, including educational programs. The move comes after years of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza that erupted at colleges across the nation.

The proposal, which passed 320-91 with some bipartisan support, would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal anti-discrimination law that bars discrimination based on shared ancestry, ethnic characteristics, or national origin. It now goes to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain.

The bill, which was introduced by Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY), adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, which states that it is “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.”

Antisemitism can take the form of verbal or physical acts directed at Jewish or non-Jewish people, their property, Jewish community institutions, or places of worship.

House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “I fully support
@RepMikeLawler’s Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023. This bill codifies President Trump’s Executive Order and is an incredibly important step to ensure that Jewish students and community members at America’s universities feel safe once again on campus and sends a clear message that @HouseGOP will not tolerate antisemitism anywhere.”

New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler was one of the bill’s opponents. He claimed in his floor remarks that defining anti-Semitism too narrowly could make it harder to enforce federal civil rights laws.

He added that “contemporary examples” of anti-Semitism are available on the IHRA, and that some of them may involve “protected speech in certain contexts, particularly concerning criticism of the state of Israel.”

Concerning the list, a few Republicans voiced similar concerns about free speech.

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, for example, questioned whether Americans should face legal consequences for violating the IHRA’s list of contemporary examples, pointing out that the bill’s text does not define anti-Semitism.

He stated on X that the bill was “poorly conceived and unconstitutional.”

The Department of Education would be required to use the IHRA working definition and current instances of anti-Semitism when enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws, according to Lawler’s office, when the bill was introduced in October, just after the deadly Hamas attack on Israel.

The office further stated that using the IHRA definition “in this context is a key step in calling out antisemitism where it is and ensuring antisemitic hate crimes on college campuses are properly investigated and prosecuted.”

The bill is currently on its way to the U.S. Senate, where there has already been a bipartisan effort to adopt the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism.

On Monday, a congressional committee started looking into reports of antisemitism in Berkeley’s school district. This raised concerns that the schools didn’t protect the civil rights of Jewish students.

The Education and Workforce Committee of the House of Representatives sent a letter to three school districts across the country: the School District of Philadelphia, the Berkeley Unified School District, and the Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia.

“Jewish and Israeli students have allegedly been regularly bullied and harassed,” since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the letter from Education and Workforce Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R–Michigan) and Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee Chair Kevin Kiley (R–California).

The committee said that Jewish students in Berkeley schools were “subjected to open antisemitism in their classrooms and hallways.”

“Some teachers and administrators across BUSD allegedly facilitate and encourage this hostility, while others fail to act in response to it,” the letter from Walberg and Kiley continued.

Since February 2024, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and the Anti-Defamation League have been looking into antisemitism in K–12 schools in Berkeley.

They filed a formal complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, saying that Jewish students had been subject to “severe and persistent” discrimination in Berkeley schools.