The Anti-Defamation League, an organization that describes itself as an anti-hate organization, lobbied earlier in 2024 for Congress to pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which includes a definition of antisemitism that limits speech around Israel.
The working definition of antisemitism that the House endorsed in the bill was created by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The definition includes the following regarding the state of Israel:
- 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.
- Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
In early 2023, several groups lobbied for the United Nations to reject this definition of antisemitism, because it shields Israel from its occupation of Palestine, war crimes, and violations of international law. Palestine advocates have argued that accusations of antisemitism are used to squash any criticism of Israel. The weaponization of antisemitism allows Zionists and Israel to be absolved of their crimes. Accusations of antisemitism effectively silence Palestinian voices, and divert attention away from the Israeli genocide in Palestine.
The IHRA definition conflates Jews and Zionists as one, and reiterates that the current state of Israel is self-determination for Jewish people. Palestine advocates in an article for The Guardian say, “There is a huge difference between a condition where Jews are singled out, oppressed and suppressed as a minority by antisemitic regimes or groups, and a condition where the self-determination of a Jewish population in Palestine/Israel has been implemented in the form of an ethnic exclusivist and territorially expansionist state. As it currently exists, the state of Israel is based on uprooting the vast majority of the natives – what Palestinians and Arabs refer to as the Nakba – and on subjugating those natives who still live on the territory of historical Palestine as either second-class citizens or people under occupation, denying them their right to self-determination.”
With this definition of antisemitism being used by major institutions in the US, groups like the ADL are reporting an “increase” in antisemitic incidents; however, these incidents come after these groups have adopted definitions of antisemitism that say any criticism towards Israel and Zionism is anti-Jewish hatred. A recent ADL report says that there has been a 200% increase of antisemitic incidents since October 7, 2023, but within the report, the ADL has included incidents at rallies and protests for Palestine.
New Republic reports, “The ADL admits in its own press release that it includes pro-Palestine rallies in its list of antisemitic incidents, even if these featured no overt hostility toward Jewish people. Any anti-Israel or anti-Zionist chants are enough for the ADL’s new definition of antisemitism.”
The weaponization of antisemitism accusations are being used to limit free speech in America, and across countries that are adopting these malleable definitions of antisemitism. These accusations silence the reality of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
