4 ms·

Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 Passed in House of Representatives

6 points by TheFreim 2y ago

electricdreams 2y ago
[flagged]
schluffinplan 2y ago
The whole thing is quite sad because this issue is being pushed to squash student activism and bring about a new era of McCarthyism. As someone who regularly attends a Conservative Jewish synagogue (which ironically is one of the more liberal sects), I have yet to talk to any Jews who support the bill. Antisemitism is a serious issue that has been building ever since Donald Trump refused to condemn White Supremacists (whom he intentionally politically courts similarly to Modi with the RSS). However, criticism related to Israel and the blind unconditional support of some (and I must emphasize that is a minority) Jewish people in America have for Israel is the most legitimate grievance that people have towards American Jews. I don't like seeing the reports of five-figure body counts in Gaza any more than the activists this bill is trying to silence. There is a strong cultural and political disconnect right now between Israeli and American Jews which has been driving a strong rift. Jews in Israel tend to skew more Orthodox and hold more extreme right-wing political views than in America where there is a strong culture of Liberalism and Progressivism. Beyond that, I can say from personal experience there is a certain Israeli bravado and a condescension towards American Jews which drives me berserk (some Ultra-Orthodox Israelis have made statements denying the Jewishness of Conservative and Reform Jews for instance). Yet I have to take all the anger and micro-aggressions of the disgruntled leftists for actions in which I had no input and actively go against my wishes for how Israel would conduct itself. This bill won't change those people's minds nor will it do anything to change the minds of right-wing antisemites (like Nick Fuentes) who would gladly see new death camps get created in America. If anything it serves to fuel the classic antisemitic tropes which have once again taken hold in mainstream culture.
Terr_ 2y ago
"Passed"? The status is still "Introduced" on the webpage, is it just rather out of date? Edit: OK, I see something elsewhere on the House Clerk site [3]. It looks like there was a separate house resolution HR-1173 [0] was passed recently, which basically says "we shall start the process of discussing and vote on these other proposals." However such resolutions are not the same as an actual actual bill/law [1][2]. [0] https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-resolution/1173 https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-resolutio... [1] https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/the-legislative-process/bills-resolutions https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/the-legislative-pr... [2] https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/resolution_of_congress https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/resolution_of_congress [3] https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024172 https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024172
- TheFreim 2y ago
  The original link has an "actions" section which reports the following: 04/30/2024-12:46pm - Rule H. Res. 1173 passed House. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6090/all-actions https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6090...
  - Terr_ 2y ago
    ... Did you miss the part where I already wrote about that exact resolution? Or where I explained how a resolution (H.Res.) isn't the same as passing a bill (H.R.)?
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Terr_ 2y ago
> The American Civil Liberties Union strongly urges you to oppose H.R.6090, the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act. Federal law already prohibits antisemitic discrimination and harassment by federally funded entities. H.R. 6090 is therefore not needed to protect against antisemitic discrimination; instead, it would likely chill free speech of students on college campuses by incorrectly equating criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism. -- https://www.aclu.org/documents/aclu-urges-congress-to-oppose-anti-semitism-awareness-act https://www.aclu.org/documents/aclu-urges-congress-to-oppose...

6 points by TheFreim 2y ago

[flagged]

The whole thing is quite sad because this issue is being pushed to squash student activism and bring about a new era of McCarthyism. As someone who regularly attends a Conservative Jewish synagogue (which ironically is one of the more liberal sects), I have yet to talk to any Jews who support the bill. Antisemitism is a serious issue that has been building ever since Donald Trump refused to condemn White Supremacists (whom he intentionally politically courts similarly to Modi with the RSS). However, criticism related to Israel and the blind unconditional support of some (and I must emphasize that is a minority) Jewish people in America have for Israel is the most legitimate grievance that people have towards American Jews. I don't like seeing the reports of five-figure body counts in Gaza any more than the activists this bill is trying to silence. There is a strong cultural and political disconnect right now between Israeli and American Jews which has been driving a strong rift. Jews in Israel tend to skew more Orthodox and hold more extreme right-wing political views than in America where there is a strong culture of Liberalism and Progressivism. Beyond that, I can say from personal experience there is a certain Israeli bravado and a condescension towards American Jews which drives me berserk (some Ultra-Orthodox Israelis have made statements denying the Jewishness of Conservative and Reform Jews for instance). Yet I have to take all the anger and micro-aggressions of the disgruntled leftists for actions in which I had no input and actively go against my wishes for how Israel would conduct itself. This bill won't change those people's minds nor will it do anything to change the minds of right-wing antisemites (like Nick Fuentes) who would gladly see new death camps get created in America. If anything it serves to fuel the classic antisemitic tropes which have once again taken hold in mainstream culture.

Terr_ 2y ago

"Passed"? The status is still "Introduced" on the webpage, is it just rather out of date? Edit: OK, I see something elsewhere on the House Clerk site [3]. It looks like there was a separate house resolution HR-1173 [0] was passed recently, which basically says "we shall start the process of discussing and vote on these other proposals." However such resolutions are not the same as an actual actual bill/law [1][2]. [0] https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-resolution/1173 https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-resolutio... [1] https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/the-legislative-process/bills-resolutions https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/the-legislative-pr... [2] https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/resolution_of_congress https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/resolution_of_congress [3] https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024172 https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024172

TheFreim 2y ago
The original link has an "actions" section which reports the following: 04/30/2024-12:46pm - Rule H. Res. 1173 passed House. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6090/all-actions https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6090...
- Terr_ 2y ago
  ... Did you miss the part where I already wrote about that exact resolution? Or where I explained how a resolution (H.Res.) isn't the same as passing a bill (H.R.)?

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Terr_ 2y ago

> The American Civil Liberties Union strongly urges you to oppose H.R.6090, the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act. Federal law already prohibits antisemitic discrimination and harassment by federally funded entities. H.R. 6090 is therefore not needed to protect against antisemitic discrimination; instead, it would likely chill free speech of students on college campuses by incorrectly equating criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism. -- https://www.aclu.org/documents/aclu-urges-congress-to-oppose-anti-semitism-awareness-act https://www.aclu.org/documents/aclu-urges-congress-to-oppose...