Muslim civil rights and advocacy group warns any attempt to punish students critical of Israel using IHRA definition of antisemitism would violate Constitution and spark legal action
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/6/26) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on public schools in Virginia to reject outgoing Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares’ call for state school superintendents and school boards to adopt a controversial, overbroad and widely criticized definition of “antisemitism” that conflates criticism of the Israeli government’s racism with antisemitism.
CAIR also warned that any use of the definition to punish students critical of the Israeli government would violate the First Amendment and likely spark legal action.
This week, Miyares wrote to all the K-12 school systems to use the disputed International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism in their policies. Among other things, the definition’s examples of antisemitism include the false claim that it is antisemitic to describe Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 was a racist endeavor.
Civil liberties advocates across the country have warned that the IHRA definition has been repeatedly misused to suppress constitutionally-protected speech critical of the Israeli government and supportive of Palestinian human rights. The author of the IHRA definition has also said that it was never meant for governmental use.
Last September, CAIR and CAIR Action, its advocacy affiliate, released a joint factsheet, “Voices of Resistance Against the IHRA Definition and the Antisemitism Awareness Act.”
That publication documents how the IHRA definition of antisemitism is being weaponized across the country to silence advocacy against genocide and for Palestinian human rights.
In a statement, Washington, D.C., based CAIR said:
“We unequivocally reject antisemitism in all its forms. Outgoing Attorney General Miyares’ attempt to impose the controversial and widely disputed IHRA definition of antisemitism on Virginia schools has nothing to do with stopping bigotry and everything to do with punishing criticism of the Israeli government.
“The IHRA definition falsely conflates legitimate criticism of the Israeli government’s racist history and racist policies with hatred against Jewish people. This definition has been repeatedly used to silence those who speak out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza and intimidate students and teachers who advocate for Palestinian human rights.
“Schools have a legal and moral obligation to protect free expression and foster open dialogue, not enforce politically motivated definitions that stifle dissent. Any attempt to use the IHRA definition to silence or punish students critical of the Israeli government would violate the Constitution and likely spark legal action. Schools should therefore disregard Mr. Miyaers’ demand.”
BACKGROUNDER:
Kenneth Stern, the lead drafter of the IHRA definition of antisemitism and a self-identified Zionist, told NPR in 2025 that the Trump Administration is “absolutely weaponizing antisemitism.”
Stern characterized the Trump administration’s use of the definition as an assault on free speech and higher education, “I think it’s a total assault on the university, which has been a very important institution for Jews over the last number of decades. JD Vance had talked about following the playbook of [Victor] Orban in Hungary on dealing with education. I think that’s what we’re seeing unfold.”
Speaking to the Washington Post in April 2025, Stern said “I think it’s bad policy, and as a lawyer I think it’s unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination,” He added, “I am a Zionist and Israel is important to me, but there are young Jews whose Judaism leads them to a different point of view.”
Stern’s 2019 op-ed for The Guardian warns against codifying the definition, particularly its examples of modern antisemitism, into law, saying it will be used to suppress political speech and harm academic freedom. According to Stern around 2010 “rightwing Jewish groups” and “decided to weaponize it with title VI cases.” The Civil Rights of of 1964’s title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs receiving federal funding. He notes how after initial efforts to target speakers, assigned texts and protests failed these groups went to university’s then Congress, then to the President who incorporated it into his Executive Order 13899 of December 11, 2019 “[The IHRA definition] was never intended to be a campus hate speech code, but that’s what Donald Trump’s executive order accomplished this week. This order is an attack on academic freedom and free speech, and will harm not only pro-Palestinian advocates, but also Jewish students and faculty, and the academy itself.”
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com