The Anti-Semitism Awareness Act will only create more Jew hatred.

In 2019 President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13899 meant to direct the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights to apply Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to discrimination against Jews by colleges and universities. At the time, even as someone who has generally supported Trump's agenda, I wrote that it was a terrible policy. It adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism to include comparisons of Israel's government with that of Nazi Germany's. This week the GOP controlled US Congress passed the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (HR 6090). This codified much of the Trump executive order into law and added to it other elements such as the belief of many Christians in the Gospel narrative that the Jews condemned Jesus to crucifixion. A previous version of this bill was introduced in 2019 to the cheers of the Anti-Defamation League, but it failed in the Senate.

I am aghast at the overreach that this bill represents in addressing a social problem (Jew hatred) that transcends any field where law and government are able to control human behaviour. I am Jewish, the son of two Israeli immigrants, grandson of two Holocaust survivors, and recognize that attempting to use legal penalties to fight prejudicial opinions expressed in educational settings is both wrong and a recipe for disaster. In opposition to it I join a broad spectrum of concerned Americans: the ACLU, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and 90 other members of the House, and more. This law is blatantly unconstitutional as the government has no right to dictate to Americans what attitudes are acceptable toward Israel, the Holocaust, or Biblical scripture. I implore fellow Jewish Americans to recognize the Trojan Horse this represents if it is ever enacted and withstands legal challenge: Tomorrow it could be YOUR opinions that are legally used against you and this will serve as the precedent to say that it is lawful. This is why we need to organize to support free speech and a Jewish Alliance for the First Amendment (JAFFA) in order to respond to the danger that controversial opinions. Please write your US senators to demand they vote against this bill when it is introduced in their chamber.