Washington,
D.C. | www.adc.org
| May 1, 2024 — In
response to the
student-led,
pro-Palestinian
movement, the US House
of Representatives today
passed the Antisemitism
Awareness Act, a bill
which is steeped in
anti-Palestinian and
anti-Arab racism and
dangerously conflates
concern for Palestinian
human rights with danger
and hate. It stifles
legitimate criticism of
the apartheid state of
Israel and that of the
Biden administration’s
complicity in the
ongoing genocide. ADC
firmly rejects this
disingenuous attempt to
paint pro-Palestinian
and anti-war protesters
as any sort of threat,
particularly as these
students and faculty are
the ones facing a very
real risk of being
attacked by both police
and pro-genocide
agitators. We stand in
solidarity with those
facing violence and
suppression for their
courageous stance
against genocide.
Tell
the Senate to Protect
Students and Faculty!
For
months, Americans have
seen college
administrators, police,
and pro-genocide
agitators relentlessly
assault students and
faculty advocating for
Palestinians, attacks
that have become
increasingly violent
over the last week. Last
night, the NYPD raided
protests at Columbia and
the City College of New
York, prohibiting the
media and legal
observers from
documenting police
actions and denying
medical aid to those
they were raiding. At
the same time,
non-student,
pro-genocide agitators
violently assaulted the
encampment at UCLA,
shooting fireworks
directly into the
encampment and pummeling
peaceful students
desperately trying to
de-escalate the
situation. The events of
last night are simply
the latest in the
brutality leveled
against pro-Palestinian
students and faculty on
campuses nationwide.
ADC Staff Attorney
Chris Godshall-Bennett
said, “In
weaponizing antisemitism
by equating criticism of
Israel with anti-Jewish
hate, this bill erodes the
fundamental principles of
free _expression_ and
academic freedom. As a
Jewish person who stands
hand-in-hand with my
Palestinian brothers and
sisters and works daily
against anti-Arab hate, I
find this weaponization of
my identity particularly
disgusting. Criticism of
Zionism and of the Israeli
government is not
antisemitic, and
conflating the two only
serves to provide cover
for Israel’s numerous,
ongoing human rights
abuses and violations of
international law, as well
as its genocide of
Palestinians in Gaza.”
This
bill now goes to the
Senate. If they pass it,
the President will be
able to sign it into
law. We
need you to contact
your Senators NOW and
demand that they
protect the free
speech of students and
faculty on college
campuses.
The
Antisemitism Awareness
Act is not the only
dangerous,
anti-Palestinian piece
of legislation currently
being considered in
Congress. There is H.R.
7921, the Countering
Antisemitism Act, which
would codify a narrative
that demonizes the
pro-Palestinian movement
in the US. In the lead
up to today’s vote House
Democrats were pushing
for this bill to be
considered instead, but
ultimately it was not
considered. A second
bill which has not yet
been scheduled for a
vote is H.R. 7914, the
Accountability for
Terrorist Perpetrators
of October 7th Act. This
bill dangerously
broadens sanctions on
Palestinians beyond
federally designated
terrorist organizations.
However,
the most important bill
to be aware of that has
already passed the House
and is being considered
in the Senate is H.R.
6408. This bill, which
does not have a short
title, would give a
single US official the
authority to strip
nonprofit organizations
of their tax-exempt
status in an autocratic
manner, with virtually
no limitations or
accountability, simply
because the
organizations have
viewpoints that official
or presidential
administration disagrees
with.
The
explicit targets of this
legislation are
organizations involved
in or supporting
protests against
Israel’s genocide of
Palestinians in Gaza,
most notably Students
for Justice in
Palestine. This is not
an assumption. In fact,
during the House's
markup of the bill, Ways
and Means Committee
Chairman Jason Smith
explicitly highlighted
two 501(c)(3)
organizations when
justifying the need for
the bill's swift
passage. It is essential
that the Senate protect
nonprofits from
over-broad, politicized
executive authority, and
ADC calls on its members
to contact
their Senators to
demand that
protection.