by the Jewish News Syndicate
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) introduced H.R.7945, the “Define to Defeat Act of 2024,” on Thursday, which “would apply the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism to the enforcement of civil rights laws.”
“In doing so, the legislation would provide federal officials with an objective, contemporary definition of antisemitism, better helping them to assess and prosecute criminal and discriminatory incidents motivated by antisemitism,” the congressman stated.
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The Coalition for Jewish Values, which represents more than 2,500 Orthodox rabbis, praised the bill and called on members of Congress to support it.
“The former chief rabbi of Great Britain, Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory, taught that ‘one of the enduring facts of history is that most antisemites do not think of themselves as antisemites,’” stated Rabbi Pesach Lerner, president emeritus of the coalition. “This is why it is so crucial that antisemitism be defined in a neutral fashion that clearly encompasses when it is couched as ‘anti-Israel’ rhetoric.”
The coalition singled out two other definitions of antisemitism, the Jerusalem Declaration, and the Nexus Project, as examples of what it said clouds “the definition of antisemitism, specifically to exonerate hatred against Jews when using different facades from those used by antisemites of earlier eras.”
“The other definitions offered are actually antisemitic, in that they exist to mask antisemitism in its most potent current form,” stated Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer, chair of the coalition’s rabbinic circle. “This is why it is so crucial to adopt the IHRA definition, rejecting efforts to hide the obvious connection between classical antisemitic tropes and lies said about Israel today.”
See the full article in the Jewish News Syndicate
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