H.R.1449: Yet another step towards criminalizing anti-Zionism
The passing of House Resolution 1449 further cements the IHRA definition of antisemitism, stifling the freedom to criticize Israel and its heinous actions
Yesterday, the US House of Representatives voted to pass House Resolution 1449, titled “Condemning the global rise of antisemitism and calling upon countries and international bodies to counter antisemitism.” However unobjectionable the language of the bill’s title might be, the contents of the bill are certainly alarming. Included in the preamble to the resolution were the following lines:
Whereas, in 2016, the 31 member states of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance adopted a legally nonbinding “working definition” of antisemitism, an important internationally recognized tool to increase understanding of antisemitism;
Whereas, on May 25, 2023, the White House issued the United States National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, making clear that the fight against antisemitism is a national, bipartisan priority that must be successfully conducted through a whole-of-government-and-society approach;
The “working definition” of antisemitism, as drafted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Association, has for years functioned as a tool to polarize public opinion on Israel, to smear the Palestinian resistance as inherently antisemitic, and to broadly define any substantive criticism of Israel as antisemitic. Contained within the IHRA’s working definition are the following actions considered to be examples of antisemitism:
Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
Moreover, the IHRA asserts Antisemitic acts are criminal when they are so defined by law (for example, denial of the Holocaust or distribution of antisemitic materials in some countries). For countries such as Canada and the UK, which have laws against hate speech that can result in prison sentencing, folding the IHRA guidelines into criminal law can effectively mean that criticizing Israel for its genocidal campaign in Gaza must come with a great deal of prevarication and throat-clearing in order to avoid legal repercussions.
In the US, where hate speech that doesn’t accompany a criminal act is protected under the First Amendment, the IHRA working definition can still have a pronounced chilling effect. H.R.6090, the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 (which passed the House in May of last year), also relies on the IHRA working definition. When applied to Title VI investigations of discrimination at colleges and universities, could result in higher learning institutions losing their federal funding if they aren’t sufficiently punitive of students and faculty who criticize Israel’s ongoing human rights atrocities.
And it isn’t as if the IHRA working definition is the sole definition that the global political community can draw from, in creating or revising legislation to protect Jewish people from antisemitic bigotry and violence. An alternative framework was created by the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute in 2021, to decouple Judaism and Jewishness from the state of Israel. It was brushed aside by Congress, and has gone almost unacknowledged in most Western countries. Per international politics writer Sana Saeed:
Despite opposition by the ACLU, free speech organizations such as PEN, and human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, H.R.6090 passed the House, with only 70 Democrats and 21 Republicans voting against the measure. Its Senate counterpart S.4127, will very likely pass, and be signed by Joe Biden into law.
The passage of H.R.1449 came at a rather inauspicious time for American opposition to the genocide in Gaza, as the very same day, Senator Bernie Sanders’ motions to curtail the flow of munitions to Israel were overwhelmingly defeated. The Senate’s rejection of an even slight restriction on US military support comes in the wake of President Biden’s failure to offer any punitive measures, recriminations, or even mild criticism for Israel having blown past its 30-day deadline to cease the blockading of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Which not only gave further lie to the myth that Biden and Kamala Harris are “working tirelessly” towards a ceasefire, but brought yet another weasel-faced statement from House representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:
AOC, by the way, voted for H.R.1449.
After a full day of the US political machinery strangling opposition to the genocide in Gaza, both on Capitol Hill and within the UN assembly, and for all of the lofty words and ink spilled within the borders of Israel’s largest benefactor on the matter of human rights, the genocide continues unabated nonetheless.