US Rep. Randy Fine unveils new legislation aimed at cracking down on campus antisemitism

Fine’s legislation would also require schools to treat discrimination motivated by antisemitism identically to how they treat discrimination motivated by race, ethnicity, or gender.

By Corey Walker, The Algemeiner

US Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) has introduced new legislation aimed at tackling what he termed an “explosion of antisemitism” on American university campuses.

The bill, titled the No Antisemitism in Education Act (HR 6186), seeks to mandate that educational institutions adopt a global standard for defining antisemitism and apply the same disciplinary standards to anti-Jewish discrimination as they do to racial or gender-based bigotry and discrimination.

The proposed federal law is explicitly modeled after a bipartisan measure previously championed and passed by Fine in the state of Florida.

The legislation would formally adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

IHRA — an intergovernmental organization comprising dozens of countries including the US and Israel — adopted the “working definition” of antisemitism in 2016.

Since then, the definition has been widely accepted by Jewish groups and lawmakers across the political spectrum, and it is now used by hundreds of governing institutions, including the US State Department, European Union, and United Nations.

According to the definition, antisemitism “is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

It 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.

Fine’s legislation would also require public elementary schools, public secondary schools, and institutions of higher education to treat discrimination motivated by antisemitism identically to how they treat discrimination motivated by race, ethnicity, or gender.

In introducing the bill, Fine repudiated the current enforcement landscape on college campuses.

“Today, we are witnessing an explosion of antisemitism unlike anything in our lifetimes,” the lawmaker said in a statement.

“Nowhere is it more visible, or more dangerous, than on our college campuses. Higher education institutions have a responsibility to protect every student. And right now, too many are failing Jewish students.”

He argued that a “double standard” exists, where universities immediately mobilize against other forms of bigotry but delay or diminish their response when the victim is Jewish.

“If you target a student because they are Jewish, it will be treated the same way as if you targeted them because they are Black, Hispanic, or Asian,” Fine declared, signaling a push to dismantle what he called university “bureaucracies to police every form of bigotry except the one Jews actually face.”

Citing the success of the Florida law, Fine concluded with a forceful call to action, urging his congressional colleagues to pass the measure to protect Jewish students nationwide.

“I passed this law in Florida because Jewish students were being targeted and no one was doing enough,” he said.

“Today, Jewish students across America face the same threat. I have a bill that works. Florida proves it. Now it’s time to extend those protections nationwide.”

Fine has indicated his readiness to collaborate with members from both the Republican and Democratic parties to ensure the bill advances.

Since entering the US Congress, Fine has established himself as an outspoken advocate for Israel and critic of Islam.

Last month, he posted online that “fear of Islam is rational. Islamophobia is a lie.”

He also said that Islam is not “compatible with American values” and has argued that radical Islam poses an existential threat to the United States and Jewish Americans in particular.