ACLU warns Senate against passing ‘misguided’ campus antisemitism bill that would limit criticism of Israel

The American Civil Liberties Union has urged the U.S. Senate not to pass a bill about tackling antisemitism on college campuses, arguing the bipartisan legislation could chill First Amendment rights.

“Instead of addressing antisemitism on campus, this misguided legislation would punish protected political speech,” Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, said in a statement. “At a time when civil rights enforcement on campus could not be more critical, this bill risks politicizing these vital protections by censoring legitimate political speech that criticizes the Israeli government.”

The Antisemitism Awareness Act would require the Department of Education to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism when it conducts harassment investigations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

Under the group’s definition, antisemitism includes “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,” “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis,” and “applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.”

The ACLU argued in its letter that federal law already bars antisemitism at federally funded higher education institutions and that adding this definition to discrimination investigations amounts to outlawing a specific political viewpoint, a violation of the First Amendment.

The bill passed in the House with wide bipartisan support in May. Backers argued it would put “a clear definition of antisemitism” into the law, which the Department of Education could use while investigating incidents and potentially pulling federal funding.

After the October 7 Hamas invasion of Israel, antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents surged on U.S. college campuses, as did widespread protests about the Israel-Hamas war.

Some supporters of the Antisemitism Awareness Act explicitly singled out pro-Palestinian campus protest encampments as targets of the new law.

“The erection of encampments on college campuses isn’t an expression of speech,” Rep. Marcus J. Molinaro (R-N.Y.) said on the House floor earlier this year. “It is a direct threat to Jewish students on college campuses.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in Congress, reportedly told faith leaders he would try to pass the bill later this year. He’s faced a multi-million dollar ad blitz calling on him to support the law, according to Axios.

Some Jewish groups have protested Donald Trump’s planned nomination of former congressman Matt Gaetz to be attorney general given his rejection of the antisemitism bill. He said he voted no because he objected to the law’s definition including claims that Jews killed Jesus to be examples of antisemitism.

“The bill says the definition of antisemitism includes “contemporary examples of antisemitism” identified by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). One of those examples includes: ‘…claims of Jews killing Jesus…’” Gaetz wrote on X of his vote. “The Bible is clear. There is no myth or controversy on this. Therefore, I will not support this bill.”

Historians and the Catholic Church have said Jews are not responsible for the death of Jesus.

Public stances on the Israel-Hamas conflict have been controversial even inside the ACLU.

Last month, the organization reportedly rejected a widely supported staff petition calling on the organization to publicly oppose the extensive U.S. military aid to Israel and divest from potential financial ties to the country amid its ongoing war with Gaza.

Leadership reportedly told the petitioners that the organization’s mission is to protect U.S. civil rights and liberties, so “a position on the war is not needed to carry out this essential domestic work.”