By Chris Menahan – Information Liberation
AIPAC-funded House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Friday demanded Congress “immediately” pass the Anti-Defamation League-backed “Countering Antisemitism Act” to silence criticism of Israel and police Americans’ online speech.
“The dangerous explosion of antisemitic incidents in New York City and the nation requires decisive action at every level of government,” Jeffries said on X, without referencing any specific incident. “We have to crush this cancer with the fierce urgency of now. Congress must pass the bipartisan Countering Antisemitism Act. Immediately.”
“This bill would create a new ‘National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism’ within the Executive Office of the President, to among other things, ‘counter the spread of antisemitism online’ (ie, government-coerced censorship) — including to impose ‘accountability for individuals,'” journalist Michael Tracey noted on X.
As I reported in April, the bill was introduced by a bipartisan pair of AIPAC-funded senators — Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) — and championed by the ADL for its provisions aimed at stripping Americans of their free speech rights.
“The Countering Antisemitism Act is the most far-reaching antisemitism initiative to be introduced in Congress,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said on X in April. “It offers a smart, bipartisan, whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to combating this hatred and protecting Jews around the country.”
Here’s how the ADL described the bill in a statement on their website:
The Countering Antisemitism Act (CAA)—the most comprehensive antisemitism initiative to be introduced in Congress—will implement the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and ensure its policies and infrastructure are made permanent.
As ADL data shows, the U.S. Jewish community is facing the worst crisis of antisemitism that we have seen in a generation. As we reach the conclusion of the National Strategy’s 12-month timeline, we must guarantee the important policies within the plan continue to protect Jewish lives. The Countering Antisemitism Act will ensure these policies endure and create lasting executive structures to prioritize and fight antisemitism, including a domestic National Coordinator and a dedicated Task Force that meets regularly to coordinate efforts to fight antisemitism across federal agencies.
As we face such historic levels of antisemitism, the Countering Antisemitism Act offers a smart, innovative whole-of-government approach to combating this hatred and protecting Jews around the country.
The Countering Antisemitism Act is authored by Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) and Reps. Kathy Manning (D-NC) and Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chairs of the House and Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism.
Key Provisions
– Establishes a National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism to serve as the President’s principal advisor on countering domestic antisemitism and coordinate Federal efforts to counter antisemitism.
– Establishes an Interagency Task Force to Counter Antisemitism to coordinate the implementation of Federal strategies to counter antisemitism.
– Requires federal agencies to submit a report to Congress detailing their implementation of the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.
– Requires the FBI, DHS, and National Counterterrorism Center to jointly produce an annual threat assessment of antisemitic violent extremism.
– Requires the National Coordinator to conduct an annual analysis of online antisemitic content, including Holocaust denial and distortion, and prepare recommendations for Congress on how to counter the spread of antisemitism online.
– Requires the Department of Education to designate a senior official to advise and oversee the Department’s efforts to counter antisemitic discrimination at colleges and universities.
– Requires the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to study Holocaust education efforts across public K-12 schools.
– Requires FEMA to ensure they have sufficient resources and personnel to carry out the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
– Formally designates May as “Jewish American Heritage Month.”
The bill is supposed to work in concert with the Biden administration’s “National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism” which called on “all online platforms” to ban “extremist websites,” ban “hate speech” and institute “zero tolerance” policies to protect Jews from antisemitism.
These measures come at a time when Israel is actively ethnically cleansing Gaza and inducing a man-made famine.