The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, is calling on all Americans to urge their members of Congress to vote against the Countering Antisemitism Act (H.R.7921 / S.4091) in the House and Senate, and the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (H.R.6090 / S.4127) in the Senate. These misleadingly titled bills expand the definition of what constitutes antisemitism to include legitimate criticism of Israel’s human rights record in an attempt to silence pro-Palestine activism.
The Countering Antisemitism Act would solidify the false notion that the pro-Palestine human rights movement is responsible for antisemitism. Supporters of Palestinian human rights have faced a recent rise in heavy-handed law enforcement and vigilante violence and discrimination; with some Palestinian Americans having been murdered or seriously injured. The bill proposes a national coordinator and federal interagency task force be stood up to combat antisemitism, using this expansive definition designed to silence Palestinian human rights activists, which could increase state discrimination and target Arab Americans and pro-Palestine supporters for speaking out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza or occupation and apartheid state policies. The bill specifically aims to adopt the IHRA definition of expansive and misleading definition of antisemitism. The IHRA definition hinders legitimate free speech regarding Israel’s human rights violations.
Kenneth S. Stern, the original drafter of the IHRA definition, has called it a “working definition” and testified to the U.S. Congress that if government bodies “enshrine this definition into law, outside groups will try and suppress – rather than answer – political speech they don’t like. The academy, Jewish students, and faculty teaching about Jewish issues will all suffer.”
The Anti-Semitism Awareness Act recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 6090) and is now being considered in the U.S. Senate. The bill attempts to suppress and criminalize First Amendment-protected political speech in American schools by also requiring the U.S. Department of Education to adopt the IHRA’s misleading definition of antisemitism. If passed, this bill will freeze the free speech of all American students on campus.
It is time to stop portraying pro-Palestine supporters as antisemitic simply for criticizing the Israeli government’s genocide and war crimes against Palestinians. By strategically attempting to silence these voices, they undermine freedom of speech and democracy.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations’ 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