Two dangerous bills in Congress take aim at Palestine solidarity

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a controversial bill equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism and effectively laying the groundwork for other laws to be crafted that could classify pro-Palestine protests and demonstrations as crimes. The bill’s passage stirred outrage among supporters of Palestine and free speech.

Another bill was introduced more quietly and immediately demonstrated the dangers of the first. Both bills bear close scrutiny. Taken together, they promise to make support for Palestinians under siege by Israel much more difficult.

Declaring anti-Zionism is antisemitism

The bill that passed Tuesday was declarative, headlined, “Strongly condemning and denouncing the drastic rise of antisemitism in the United States and around the world.” It made five declarations, four of which denounced antisemitism and expressed support for the Jewish community in the United States and around the world. But the fourth clause says that the House “clearly and firmly states that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”

Only the day before, Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York—a staunch supporter of Israel and a pillar of the American Jewish community—made a speech on the House floor clarifying that anti-Zionism is a position that Jews have held as long as some of their fellows have embraced Zionism. He noted both the religious objections—including that of the largest Hasidic sect in the world, the Satmar—as well as a long tradition of labor activists and other secular Jews who had and have political objections to Zionism. 

Yet, when the bill came up for a vote, Nadler, like 91 other Democrats, merely voted “present” on the bill. That set them on a slightly higher moral plane than the 95 Democrats who voted “yes” on this Republican bill. Only 13 Democrats voted against the bill. 

Defining anti-Zionism as antisemitism was, without a doubt, the point of the bill. That clause was the only one of the five in the “resolves” section that was anything other than blanket opposition to attacks on Jews. It came after a long list of examples, from both the United States and abroad, of actions against Jewish targets, most of which were quite minor. 

Exceptions were one incident where a confrontation between a particularly aggressive Jewish heckler and a Palestinian protester led to the Jewish man falling down and hitting his head, a blow from which the man later died. In another incident cited in the bill, in Sydney, Australia, a Jewish man was apparently attacked and severely beaten. Outside of these, however, the incidents listed were threats and vandalism. 

Without a doubt, all of these acts need to be condemned. But the text of the bill makes it very clear that it is centering incidents after October 7, and the bill makes sure to note any “pro-Palestinian” connection that can be demonstrated. Worse, the bill’s authors repeat a thoroughly debunked falsehood about a protest—ironically, led by Jews—at the Democratic National Committee’s meeting on November 15. It claims the protesters were violent when, in fact, they were completely peaceful but were attacked by police. 

The bill also falsely claims that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s highly contentious and contested definition of antisemitism is “widely accepted and serves as a critical tool to help individuals comprehend and identify the various manifestations of antisemitism.” 

And, in one more bit of blatant dissembling, the bill claims the phrase “From the River To the Sea…is a rallying cry for the eradication of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.” This has been debunked so often and in so many ways, even Congress should be ashamed of such an obvious lie. 

Taken together, it’s obvious from these clauses that the intention behind this bill is more than a show of support for Jews. The absence of any concomitant mention of anti-Arab and Islamophobic attacks—despite the fact that we have seen a Palestinian American child stabbed to death in Illinois, three young Palestinian American men shot in Vermont, and a Palestinian student run over with a car in California, among a huge rise in anti-Arab hate crimes along with antisemitic ones—makes it clear that this is not about protecting religious minorities. 

Rather, it’s intended to lay the foundation for future legislation and actions that are based on the equivalence between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. And with the passage of this bill, a bipartisan group of extreme pro-Israel lawmakers moved to seize the moment. 

Anti-Zionist witchhunt

Currently titled, “To establish the Commission to Study Acts of Antisemitism in the United States,” H.R. 6578 is, in the words of Lara Friedman, intended “EXCLUSIVELY to target criticism of Israel & Zionism. This is clear from the whereas clauses (100% about October 7 & its aftermath) and from the press release.”

There is already a well-known presidential initiative to combat antisemitism that was presented with great fanfare and widespread approval. The bill itself makes no mention of the white nationalism that is the source of the overwhelming majority of antisemitism but focuses exclusively on incidents since October. Both the bill itself and the comments in the press release that announced it focus entirely on support for Palestinians as antisemitism.  

In case there was any doubt about the legitimacy of this commission, Congress hopes to create a clause in the bill that bars any witness subpoenaed for the commission from invoking their Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. That’s particularly problematic in an atmosphere where criticism of Israel is careening toward being categorized as hate speech. 

Antisemitism in this bill is defined even more loosely than in the one the House passed Tuesday. “In this Act, the term ‘‘antisemitism’’ means a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed:

(1) as hatred toward Jews; and
(2) by rhetorical and physical manifestations directed toward 

1. Jewish or non-Jewish individuals; or 
2. the property of the individuals described under subparagraph (A); or 
3.  Jewish community institutions; or 
4. Jewish religious facilities.

A “certain perception of Jews” is wide open to interpretation. The inclusion of “non-Jewish individuals” widens the scope, potentially to include Christian Zionist or other non-Jewish supporters of Israel. 

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, one of the Democratic co-sponsors of the bill said, “This bipartisan, bicameral inquiry, which is supported by Jewish civil society leaders and experts, will complement the implementation of President Biden’s first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and inform key policy decisions in combatting this disturbing trend.”

By “Jewish civil society,” she means AIPAC and the ADL, both of which are enthusiastic supporters of this bill. 

The commission is hauntingly reminiscent of the House Un-American Activities Committee that Senator Joe McCarthy used to destroy so many lives, including a massive number of Jewish leftists. 

As Friedman said, “ADL is all-in supporting/promoting the new witch hunt — which would seek to destroy the lives of Americans who dare to criticize Israel, including Jewish Americans.”

The question “Are you now or have you ever been a supporter of Palestinian rights” may well come to haunt American history just as McCarthy did.