{{Short description|2024 United States bill}} {{refimprove|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox U.S. legislation | shorttitle = Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 | longtitle = To provide for the consideration of a definition of antisemitism set forth by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance for the enforcement of Federal antidiscrimination laws concerning education programs or activities, and for other purposes. | announced in = 118 | actsamended = title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 | leghisturl = https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6090/all-actions | introducedin = | introducedbill = H.R. 6090 | introducedby = Michael Lawler {{USpolabbr|R|NY}} | introduceddate = | passedbody1 = House | passeddate1 = 1 May 2024 | passedvote1 = [https://www.congress.gov/votes/house/118-2/172 320 - 91] }} The '''Antisemitism Awareness Act''', spearheaded by the Republicans but also backed by many Democrats, passed the United States House of Representatives in a 320–91 vote on 1 May 2024, and proceeded to the Senate.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 October 2023 |title=H.R.6090 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6090 |website=Congress.gov |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=13 May 2024 |archive-date=13 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513065151/https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6090 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://www.politifact.com/article/2024/may/10/the-antisemitism-awareness-act-what-to-know/ The Antisemitism Awareness Act: What to know] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513152418/https://www.politifact.com/article/2024/may/10/the-antisemitism-awareness-act-what-to-know/ |date=13 May 2024 }}; Louis Jacobson; Politifact; 10 May 2024</ref> The bill is intended to add the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's approved working definition of antisemitism to title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits "exclusion from participation in, denial of benefits of, and discrimination under federally assisted programs on ground of race, color, or national origin".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foran |first=Clare |date=1 May 2024 |title=House passes antisemitism bill as Johnson highlights campus protests {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/01/politics/house-vote-antisemitism-awareness-act/index.html |access-date=13 May 2024 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=3 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503181837/https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/01/politics/house-vote-antisemitism-awareness-act/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Democratic representative Sara Jacobs, who is Jewish, said she opposed the bill because "it fails to effectively address the very real rise of antisemitism, all while defunding colleges and universities across the country and punishing many, if not all, of the non-violent protestors speaking out against the Israeli military’s conduct."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Timotija |first=Filip |date=1 May 2024 |title=Jewish Democrat Sara Jacobs on voting against bill: Anti-Zionism not 'inherently' antisemitism |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4637427-jewish-democrat-sara-jacobs-voting-against-bill-anti-zionism-not-inherently-antisemitism/ |access-date=13 May 2024 |website=The Hill |language=en-US |archive-date=3 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503000722/https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4637427-jewish-democrat-sara-jacobs-voting-against-bill-anti-zionism-not-inherently-antisemitism/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The proposed legislation would broaden the legal definition of antisemitism to include Anti-Zionism, criticism of the policies of the state of Israel, and concerns about Palestinian human rights, categorizing all of them as hate speech.{{cn|date=April 2026}}
==Responses== Organizations including the Anti-Defamation League and Conference of Presidents have praised the bill.{{cn|date=April 2026}}
The Act has been criticized for conflating "Judaism with Zionism in assuming that all Jews are Zionists". It faces strong opposition from several Democratic lawmakers, Jewish organizations, and free speech advocates, including more than 800 Jewish U.S. academics, who signed a letter calling on Biden not to sign the bill. Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the centrist pro-Israel group J Street, said that his organization opposes the bill because it is an "unserious" effort led by Republicans "to continually force votes that divide the Democratic caucus on an issue that shouldn’t be turned into a political football".{{cn|date=April 2026}} The American Civil Liberties Union saw the bill as an attack on First Amendment rights and argues that its "overbroad" definition of antisemitism "could result in colleges and universities suppressing a wide variety of speech critical of Israel or in support of Palestinian rights in an effort to avoid investigations by the Department [of Education] and the potential loss of funding".{{cn|date=April 2026}} More than 1,200 Jewish scholars petitioned President Biden not to approve the measure, arguing that it criminalises legitimate criticism of Israel.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newarab.com/news/800-jewish-scholars-urge-biden-reject-antisemitism-bill|title=800 Jewish scholars urge Biden to reject antisemitism bill|first=The New Arab|last=Staff|date=10 May 2024|website=The New Arab}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/8/will-the-us-adopt-ihras-anti-semitism-definition-whats-the-controversy|title=Will the US adopt IHRA's anti-Semitism definition? What's the controversy?|first=Federica|last=Marsi|website=Al Jazeera}}</ref>
Some far-right Republicans have criticized the bill saying it could make antisemitic tropes attributed to the New Testament such as Jewish deicide illegal, with figures such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz chastising it as a free speech violation on that basis.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mathur-Ashton |first=Aneeta |date=8 May 2024 |title=EXPLAINER: The Controversy Surrounding the Antisemitism Bill {{!}} National News {{!}} U.S. News |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2024-05-07/explainer-the-controversy-surrounding-the-antisemitism-bill |access-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508155651/https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2024-05-07/explainer-the-controversy-surrounding-the-antisemitism-bill |archive-date=8 May 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/01/mccarthy-ally-goes-for-gaetzs-jugular-00155605 | title=Gaetz under fire for defending antisemitism vote with antisemitic trope | website=Politico | date=May 2024 }}</ref>
Hundreds of Israeli and international civil society organizations have opposed it saying the IHRA definition was not meant to be used as a basis for law.<ref name="Guardian">[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/11/us-university-protests-antisemitism-free-speech Campus protest crackdowns claim to be about antisemitism – but they’re part of a rightwing plan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513040959/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/11/us-university-protests-antisemitism-free-speech |date=13 May 2024 }}; Arielle Angel; The Guardian; 11 May 2024</ref><ref>[https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/4657119-the-antisemitism-awareness-act-is-bad-for-american-jews-heres-why/ The Antisemitism Awareness Act is bad for American Jews — here’s why] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513154138/https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/4657119-the-antisemitism-awareness-act-is-bad-for-american-jews-heres-why/ |date=13 May 2024 }}; Miko Zeldes-Roth; The Hill; 12 May 2024</ref><ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/house-vote-expanded-definition-antisemitism-amid-growing-campus-109838397 House passes bill to expand definition of antisemitism amid growing campus protests over Gaza war] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513152231/https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/house-vote-expanded-definition-antisemitism-amid-growing-campus-109838397 |date=13 May 2024 }}; Farnoush Amiri; ABC News; 1 May 2024</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:2024 in American law Category:Reactions to the Gaza war in the United States Category:Antisemitism in the United States Category:2020s in Judaism Category:Christianity and antisemitism Category:Definition of antisemitism controversy Category:Christian Zionism in the United States Category:Acts of the 118th United States Congress