Editorial: House antisemitism bill would stymie free speech and wouldn’t make students safer

President Biden speaks at the U.S. Not appropriate — in fact, arguably unconstitutional — is a bill overwhelmingly approved by the House that would have the Education Department use an expansive definition of antisemitism that could chill political speech. The problem with the Antisemitism Awareness Act is that it directs the Education Department to “take into consideration” the working definition of antisemitism promulgated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance when determining whether there has been a Title VI violation. For instance, the IHRA definition provides these examples as antisemitism: “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “applying double standards by requiring of a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.” Israel is a member state of the United Nations and is not going away, nor should it. Agreeing with the American Civil Liberties Union, Nadler warned that “if this legislation were to become law, colleges and universities that want to avoid Title VI investigations, or the potential loss of federal funding, could end up suppressing protected speech criticizing Israel or supporting Palestinians.” Moreover, he added, “it could result in students and faculty self-censoring their political speech.” The Education Department has said that it considers the IHRA definition in some of its investigations in determining whether there is discriminatory intent.