Given all the problems in the Middle East currently, there is increasing concern about antisemitism across the country. And Congress is taking note of it. There are several new bills on the table that aim to more accurately define antisemitism.
What lawmakers are attempting to do is lay out rules for preventing political concerns about Israel from turning into antisemitism in general. Several states are also taking notice and are in the process of creating their own rules. Let’s take a closer look.
Reason for concern
The October 7 attacks that were committed by Hamas caused concern all over the Jewish world. The attacks killed more than 1000 people and created a hostage situation that has still not been resolved to this day. Following the attacks, a wave of antisemitism erupted globally that needs to be addressed legally.
The danger is just as clear in the US as it is elsewhere. For this reason, both the federal and state governments are making concerted efforts to address the problem. But are they doing enough?
What is the issue?
Just as it is important to define products and services in definitive ways, so too is it essential to define political issues accurately. If you have a trademark product, for example, and are looking for trademark renewal, you want to keep your brand intact and be confident that it will be recognized according to its original purpose.
The same holds true for less tangible definitions. Whether they be beneficial or harmful, interpersonal and inter-group behavior needs to be defined for what it is. Antisemitism is an age-old problem that has woven its way into societies for thousands of years. And sometimes it only takes one incident for it to suddenly flare up and start to spread again.
In 2016, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance created a formal definition of antisemitism, with the hope that it would be acknowledged by different governments around the world and used in different national legislatures as a means of protecting Jewish citizens against discrimination. In some countries, this idea is taken seriously. France, for example, has anti-discriminatory laws that it enforces consistently. Other countries are slower to enact national laws.
Georgia makes the first move
Georgia was the first US state to put a bill on the table that attempted to quantify antisemitic behavior following the October attacks. However, the Georgia law has been criticized in various circles, with many people claiming that it unjustly equates antisemitism with anti-Zionism.
Two other states that soon followed Georgia were Indiana and South Dakota. Both of these states developed bills that used similar definitions to the one enacted in Georgia, and are proposing to apply the new definition to anti-discrimination laws.
Each of these bills was created for aparticular purpose. In the case of Indiana, the bill attempts to protect Jewish students from discrimination in higher education. In the case of South Dakota, some people believe the bill to have been based upon a questionable foundation because there were not as many reported problems in that state as there were in others.
Others follow suit
There are six other states that have put similar bills on the table. Which of them will put the bills into law is still a question, but the original three states mentioned above stand the strongest chance for doing so.
Some of the complications have not only to do with the treatment of Jews, but also with other minorities' trying to exact similar legislation that prevents them from being prejudiced against. And because each US state has a distinct demographic makeup, this can become a complicated question, with many different people raising concerns for different reasons.
For these reasons, it may take time before US states - much less the US as a whole - come to formal agreements about how to tackle antisemitism in society. This is, unfortunately, another manifestation of the complicated nature of the US and the fact that power is often devolved to the lower ranks of society with different groups competing for different interests.
We will persevere
Nonetheless, people must remain vigilant to conquer the problem of antisemitism. It is an issue that has existed for as long as the Jewish people have been alive, and it runs through pretty much every current society where Jews reside in some form or another. Even in Israel, there are issues between different factions of Jews that cause problems between them.
The more the international community joins together in this fight, the better a chance the world has of beating the problem. We cannot allow individual vested interests to get in our way; rather we need to focus on the task at hand and work to protect people’s fundamental human rights.