Trump administration has reportedly established new process to declare human rights groups antisemitic

According to a report from Nahal Toosi at Politico, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has developed a process to deem certain human rights groups antisemitic.

Toosi first reported that the administration was moving forward with such a plan in October, but the proposal drew widespread condemnation from lawmakers, right groups, and State Department staffers. The idea was to tag groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as antisemitic for criticizing the Israel policy. Additionally, the Trump administration was expected to call on other governments to cut off any support for the organizations. According to Toosi’s sources, the new plan is a compromise. They also noted that Pompeo “could still change his mind and hold off on an announcement.”

The original plan was apparently supposed to take the form of a report, which was to come out of the office of the special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, Elan Carr. “Certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs) regularly participate in and promote the Global BDS Campaign or engage in other activities that meet the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of anti-Semitism,” read a memo connected to the report, that was obtained by Mother Jones. “Through their participation in the Global BDS Campaign, these organizations have advocated in favor of harming U.S. economic relations with Israel and U.S. foreign policy interests.” 

The IHRA definition of antisemitism controversially includes some criticisms of Israel.

“By smearing leading human rights organizations as ‘antisemitic,’ the corrupt and increasingly authoritarian Trump Administration is escalating its relentless war on human rights, justice, and the truth,” the BDS Movement’s North America coordinator Olivia Katbi Smith told Mondoweiss when news of the potential move broke last month. “It is also entrenching its criminal partnership with Israel’s far-right regime, including in its desperate attempts to conflate opposition to its occupation and apartheid against Palestinians with antisemitism. The nonviolent BDS movement for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality, stands with all those struggling for a more dignified, just and beautiful world, including the named human rights and development organizations, against Trump’s McCarthyite attempts to intimidate and bully them into complacency and complicity in human rights abuses.”

“It’s worth noting that this administration changes its mind from minute to minute, so this ain’t a completely finalized done deal until it is. Still, if Pompeo goes through with it, it’ll be interesting to see if Biden tries to roll it back & how & what blowback he’d get,” tweeted Toosi.