Congress: 115 · Status: active · Israel/Palestine classification: pro-Israel
Data (JSON) — machine-readable record of this bill (identifiers, sponsor, classification, actions, and the member-by-member vote breakdown).
Official record on Congress.gov — full text, actions, and cosponsor history for HR 5924.
Sponsor: Roskam, Peter J. (R-IL)
Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2018 This bill requires the Department of Education when reviewing whether there has been a violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance) based on an individual's actual or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic characteristics to consider the definition of "anti-Semitism" as part of its assessment of whether a practice was motivated by anti-Semitic intent. For purposes of this bill, the definition of "anti-Semitism" is the definition set forth by the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism of the Department of State in the Fact Sheet issued on June 8, 2010.
This bill requires the Department of Education to use the State Department's 2010 definition of antisemitism when investigating claims of Jewish discrimination under civil rights law. That definition includes the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition, whose 'contemporary examples' classify certain statements about Israel—such as describing it as racist or comparing Israeli policies to Nazi actions—as antisemitic.
This makes Israel criticism potentially actionable as discrimination in schools receiving federal funds. Schools could lose funding if they allow speech that the IHRA definition labels antisemitic, even when that speech is directed at Israeli government conduct rather than Jewish people. The bill effectively uses civil rights enforcement as a mechanism to restrict Palestine-related speech on campuses.