A BDS march held on May 15, 2010. A classic bait-and-switch operation is designed to whip up opposition to BDS and Palestine solidarity organizing on college campuses. (Photo: Stephanie Law / Flickr)
The election of Donald Trump has been accompanied by an alarming rise in anti-Semitism. Trump appointed Steve Bannon, an open anti-Semite, to be his senior counselor, and in the days after the election, there was a dramatic uptick in anti-Semitic incidents.
Given this, you might be tempted to regard the U.S. Senate’s passage, by unanimous consent, of a bill called the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act as a welcome measure in dark times.
Unfortunately, you would be mistaken.
Despite the bill’s title, it is actually part of the ongoing and intensifying effort by pro-Israel advocates to silence campus organizing in support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. The legislation is really directed at opposition to Israel’s apartheid system — being against Israel is synonymous with “anti-Semitism.”
The bill is a bipartisan effort sponsored by Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania) and Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) to, they say, “combat increasing incidents of anti-Semitism on college campuses nationwide.” According to Casey’s press release, “The Senators joined together to ensure the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has the necessary statutory tools at their disposal to investigate anti-Jewish incidents.”
The bill is backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Jewish Federations of North America and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
But like a growing list of laws and legislation, the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act uses the code word of “anti-Semitism” to justify a crackdown on Palestine solidarity efforts, particularly on college campuses.
According to The Intercept, the bill:
encourages the Department of Education to use the State Department’s broad, widely criticized definition of anti-Semitism when investigating schools. That…