Palestine Legal Welcomes Ed Dept's Decision to Combat Antisemitism Without IHRA Definition In New Factsheet

The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has released a new fact sheet describing protections that cover students who are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, or of another religious group. 

The fact sheet comes after years of demands by pro-Israel groups and right-wing politicians for the Biden administration to further entrench the Trump-endorsed IHRA definition of antisemitism. The Israel lobby has demanded that Biden’s Education Department enshrine the distorted definition in federal regulations.

“We are reassured to see the Department do the right thing: avoid reference to the IHRA definition of antisemitism, and focus resources on addressing threats of bigotry by white supremacists,” said Palestine Legal attorney Liz Jackson. “Antisemitism is frightening, especially with the resurgence of right-wing nationalism and racism of all kinds.” 

“The experts at the Department are right to address the threat of antisemitism alongside other forms of racism. They are right that censoring Palestinians does nothing to combat antisemitism.”

The newly released fact sheet focuses on real threats, such as the resurgence of Nazism targeting Jewish students, hurling “terrorist” as a racist slur against Muslims, and violence against Sikh students wearing turbans.

Labeling all criticism of Israel’s behavior as antisemitism is a distraction. The real fight against antisemitism must be joined to the struggles against racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, etc, as well as to the struggle for equality and human rights for all people.

Civil rights experts at the U.S. Department of Education know that no other form of discrimination has a fixed or codified definition in law because identifying discrimination depends on factual context, and it shifts over time. Even Trump’s Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos acknowledged this. 

Jackson emphasized, “As pressure from the Israel lobby escalates demands that the Department of Education twist civil rights law to redefine antisemitism and censor Palestinians, we appreciate the Office for Civil Rights for keeping their focus on the real work: protecting all vulnerable students.”

Civil rights orgs resist right-wing campaign to silence campus Palestine solidarity

The Department has faced heavy pressure from the Israel lobby to attack Palestinians by adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which defines criticism of Israel as antisemitic. 

Palestine Legal, along with 16 civil rights organizations, laid out in a letter to the Department’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Llahmon on August 31, 2022,  how the IHRA definition is a tool to censor Palestinians and their allies, in violation of the First Amendment 

The IHRA definition would have shut down events, canceled university classes, and punished students and professors for speaking about life as a Palestinian.  

Many Palestinians bear the scars of 1948, when they were ethnically cleansed from the land that became the Israeli state. IHRA would define Palestinian stories as a denial of Jewish self-determination—a ridiculous and harmful conclusion.

Palestinians continue to face racism on US campuses, at the borders, and inside occupied Palestine. IHRA would define Palestinian descriptions of their daily life as discrimination against Jews. That is gaslighting, and unlawful censorship. 

Meanwhile Israel has embraced its most fascistic government yet and violence against Palestinians is expected only to escalate. In this context it should be especially clear that anything like the IHRA definition restricting what Palestinians can say about their conditions is not viable as a policy.