The White House has chosen to take a strong stand against anti-Semitism, although some feel that the new strategy doesn’t do enough to defend Israel.
From Fox News. The White House on Thursday released a broad national strategy to fight antisemitism, describing the initiative as unprecedented in scope amid a surge in anti-Jewish crime.
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However, the White House evaded an increasingly contentious debate over how to define antisemitism, avoiding a clear endorsement of a mainstream, widely accepted definition while simultaneously welcoming an alternative pushed by progressives who argue the former doesn’t allow sufficient space to criticize Israel, the world’s only Jewish state.
The 60-page document details four pillars that undergird the strategy: increasing awareness and understanding of antisemitism and appreciation of Jewish American heritage, improving safety and security for Jewish communities, reversing the normalization of antisemitism and countering antisemitic discrimination and building solidarity across communities to counter hate.
President Biden called the strategy “a historic step forward” and the “most ambitious and comprehensive U.S. government-led effort to fight antisemitism in American history” in a pre-recorded video message to kick off Thursday’s announcement. …
After Biden spoke, his outgoing domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice, and his homeland security adviser, Liz Sherwood-Randall, along with second gentleman Doug Emhoff, outlined key elements of the strategy, which includes more than 100 policy commitments across the executive branch.
The document also contains more than 100 calls to action for lawmakers and others across society to take in order to combat antisemitism. …
The strategy also argues that antisemitism must be defined to combat it. …
However, rather than endorse a definition, the White House refers to several competing definitions of antisemitism as educational tools for both elected officials and the public.
“There are several definitions of antisemitism, which serve as valuable tools to raise awareness and increase understanding of antisemitism,” the strategy states. “The most prominent is the non-legally binding ‘working definition’ of antisemitism adopted in 2016 by the 31-member states of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which the United States has embraced. In addition, the administration welcomes and appreciates the Nexus Document and notes other such efforts.” …
IHRA provides 11 specific, contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace and in the religious sphere. Beyond classic antisemitic behavior associated with the likes of the medieval period and Nazi Germany, the examples include denial of the Holocaust and newer forms of antisemitism targeting Israel. such as demonizing the Jewish state, denying its right to exist and holding it to standards not expected of any other democratic state.
Experts have argued the definition is important for a range of practical uses such as adjudicating legal cases, monitoring bigotry on campuses and training law enforcement. …
However, critics have argued the newer examples of antisemitism cited in the definition don’t allow for what they describe as legitimate criticism of Israel and its policies. …
The Nexus Document, written by a group of academics, argues that applying double standards to Israel and opposing Israel’s continuation as the nation-state of the Jewish people may not necessarily be antisemitic, creating tighter standards around when anti-Israel speech and activity is antisemitic. …
“Importantly, the strategy avoids exclusively codifying any one specific, sweeping definition of antisemitism as the sole standard for use in enforcing domestic law and policy, recognizing that such an approach could do more harm than good,” J Street said in a statement, adding that the administration “rightly cites [the IHRA] definition as just one of a range of illustrative and useful tools.” …
Other Jewish groups were less supportive.
“This decision seriously weakens the White House strategy. It is yet another instance of Biden caving to the anti-Israel radicals,” said Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks, who added that Biden “blew it” by not exclusively using IHRA’s definition. He also noted the timing of the announcement — hours before the start of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot and near the end of Jewish American Heritage Month. …
Critics of the strategy also noted the White House’s inclusion of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, as a partner in building “cross-community solidarity” to combat antisemitism. According to experts and advocacy groups such as the Anti-Defamation League, CAIR has numerous ties to Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that frequently fires rockets at Israel from its neighboring stronghold in Gaza. …
The new White House strategy comes as levels of antisemitism are at historic highs in the country. Jews are the victims of 63% of reported religiously motivated hate crimes but account for just 2.4% of the U.S. population, according to FBI data. …
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(Excerpt from Fox News. Photo Credit: Canva)