News @lemmy.world aleph @lemm.ee 3 wk. ago

House passes bill to expand definition of antisemitism amid growing campus protests over Gaza war

apnews.com House passes bill to expand definition of antisemitism amid growing campus protests over Gaza war

The House has passed legislation that would establish a broader definition of antisemitism for the Department of Education to enforce anti-discrimination laws.

'If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would broaden the legal definition of antisemitism to include the “targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.'"

Pardon me, but what is this horseshit?

51 comments

"It's not an ethnostate! Also, you're racist if you criticize our ethnostate!"
- Are they even claiming it's not an ethnostate anymore? If anything, that's a plus for some of them.
For those who aren't aware, this bill aims to effectively enshrine into law the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which has been a controversial doctrine since its inception because critics say it unnecessarily curtails freedom of speech.

Hell, even the Zionist Anti-Defamation League say on their website that the IHRA definition is a guideline that should not be codified into law because it could be used to infringe the First Amendment:

ADL does not support the adoption and application of the IHRA Definition in a manner that would create new categories of legally prohibited speech that are subjected to either civil or criminal penalties – something we believe the First Amendment and principles of free speech would prevent.

This bill does very little that existing legislation does not already except have a chilling effect on freedom of speech on university campuses, and the fact that it got such widespread support from both Democrats and Republicans in the House is an absolute farce.
- It's a terrible bill, but I feel fairly confident that this will not get through the Senate, so I'm not all that concerned about it. It's performative at best.
  
  Cope, both dems and Republicans strongly support this and it will pass both house and senate and Biden will sign it.
- You know you fucked up when it's the ADL telling you your pro-Israel rhetoric has gone too far.
A law like this is going to have the opposite of the “intended” effect. It’s going to make people hate Jewish folk as a whole. Imagine being part of the genocidal protected class, feeling untouchable, you’re going to push those boundaries more and more until you’re universally detested.
- That's the goal of the Zionists. They want to make sure Israel is the only safe haven, because they don't believe in multicultural societies like the US. Everything has to be an ethnostate. That's why they always make deals with right wing and outright antisemetic regimes like Hungary, apartheid South Africa and Saudi Arabia.
  
  Jesus Christ, does this mean that a certain toothbrush mustachioed “camp counselor” was onto something? The thought sickens me, but things are starting to get a bit too muddied to be sure anymore.
So, it must now also be bigotry to condemn China's government for being... uh fucking evil. Or russia's. North Koreas. or anybody else we don't happen to like.
- The tankies occasionally use the term sinophobia, it was my understanding that the term meant "bigotry by condemning China's government for being fucking evil".
  
  At the danger of sounding like a tankie, have you looked at politics subs on reddit ir even just the average headline when China does anything at all? I've regularly seen people advocating for nuclear strikes against chinese metropolises because "If the Chinese were against their government they would have already rebelled, so they are complicit in everything their leaders do" and the articles that go like "China Has Found A Cure To Cancer; But At what cost?" (slightly exaggerated but probably something we would see if a cure to cancer really was invented in China)
- How is China Evil? Yall need to lay off the fucking propaganda.
  
  Uhm… Uyghurs?
Tragic shit. Just another day in the conservative fascist multiverse
- This is happening under democrats tho....
  
  Democrats are right of center. America has no major left wing party.
  
  This is happening in the House that is controlled by Republicans. Unfortunately a lot of Democrats voted for it too, but the only meaningful opposition also came from Dems. So Dems are split while Rs are all in on the genocide.
  
  Do you know what fascism actually is?
  
  conservative fascist multiverse
If biden signs something like this i really see trump winning come November. There shouldnt be massive amounts of protest decrying a genocide and to have our president just look at everyone like they're the crazy ones for saying no to slaughtering a whole set of people. What benefit does america gain for defending Israel. Do they even do anything expect awfull shit. Like do they produce anything other than hate.
- You mean a benefit besides being a nuke depot in the middle east?
Oh boy, it's starting.
A funny thing happens to a word when you give it additional definitions: the original definition loses meaning.

Great news for traditional antisemites
Don't criticize the apartheid ethnostate now
Democrat snatch defeat from the jaws of victory speed run commence!
So Israeli government propaganda is about to get turned into US law? So calling a criminal apartheid government as such is suddenly illegal...
wrongthink must be stomped on, with impunity.
The Netanyahu Censorship Act.
Wow. Fuck that

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