This is genuinely bad for Jews and for US democracy.
Reposted from
geoffrey
the federal government, led by an ascendant explicitly white christian nationalist faction in control of one of the two major parties, producing a legally enforceable definition of antisemitism is one of the worst things i can imagine for american jews, and the congress just passed precisely that
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/01/antisemitism-awarness-act-campus-protests/
#DontFallForIt
And the last thing Israel wants is to be left alone by the United States
I could probably get birthright citizenship there and move there, but don’t want to. I think it’s government is genocidal.
But is she not herself just another armchair Israeli?
Then your forehead shall be branded to warn other freethinkers of their folly.
So if that definition did include “critical of Israel = antisemitism” you’d be screwed with or without the bill.
Totes not antisemitic, because reasons or something.
I think it's stupid and pandering but this is just saying that the standard for antisemitism in current federal law should be the same as Canada and France and The Netherlands and dozens of other countries.
This isn't saying that criticizing Israel is now antisemitic or anything like that.
Apartheid is inherently racist. But by law now Israel may never be called racist.
But people are saying that this is a law that would make it illegal to criticize Israel and there's no way to get there from the text that says to use the same standard that the Department of State is using as a guideline.
AFAICT, this changes as much as calling July "National Jews are Groovy Month."