Last Updated on April 12, 2024
Long Island Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito introduced a bill that would include the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) “working definition” of antisemitism to federal civil rights laws, effectively curbing free speech.
The bill titled “Define to Defeat Act” is said to provide Jewish Americans “the same protection against discrimination as everyone else,” according to D’Esposito’s main webpage. The bill, however, enlists entitlements beyond what is seemingly constitutional while prohibiting anti-Zionist or speech critical of Israel.
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito on Twitter: “🚨BREAKING: Today, I was proud to Introduce the Define to Defeat Act.This bill will apply @TheIHRA’s working definition of antisemitism to current federal civil rights laws.Jewish Americans deserve the same protection against discrimination as everyone else. pic.twitter.com/X9YblM1lkp / Twitter”
🚨BREAKING: Today, I was proud to Introduce the Define to Defeat Act.This bill will apply @TheIHRA’s working definition of antisemitism to current federal civil rights laws.Jewish Americans deserve the same protection against discrimination as everyone else. pic.twitter.com/X9YblM1lkp
D’Esposito is one of many in Congress who has received funding from AIPAC, at $69,000, while serving the people of NY-04. His agenda seems to be unsurprisingly right on par with the Israel Lobby.
The act will “clarify” existing laws to widen civil rights obligations relating to hate crimes. D’Esposito’s presser states, “The legislation would provide federal officials with an objective, contemporary definition of antisemitism, better helping them to assess and prosecute criminal and discriminatory incidents motivated by antisemitism.”
D’Espositio said in the release:
Following the October 7 attacks on Israel, Jews around the world, including in America and New York, endured and continue to endure record-breaking levels of antisemitic attacks and hate. My legislation would provide federal officials the tools they need to fully assess, investigate, and prosecute this criminal behavior.
The Define to Defeat Act does not create a new law or a protected class but only widens the lens through which federal officials can act upon existing civil rights obligations to crimes motivated by bias and hate.
These politicians want to establish a career, so AIPAC will gladly oblige. It's like a "boy's club" for politicos. It's all about the funding, I told Stew Peters (@realstewpeters).
1/5 pic.twitter.com/YpXR6Efvmi— Brian J. Pfail (@brian_pfail) April 12, 2024
The press release also states that it was a much-needed act since “criminal antisemitic actors” would exercise “loopholes in the laws, such as falsely claiming their attack on Jewish institutions, individuals, or points of Jewish collective identity were motivated by ‘anti-Israel’ sentiment.”
The IHRA’s “working definition” is fairly encompassing and includes anti-Zionism. This conflating of anti-Zionism with antisemitism has been a crutch for the pro-Israel lobby to rely on, particularly as support for Israel drops, according to Gallup. The IHRA’s “working definition” reads:
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.
The IHRA provides examples of manifestations, including the “targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.” It also stated, “Antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for ‘why things go wrong.’ It is expressed in speech, writing visual forms and actions, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.”
The bill is an advent of pure, unadulterated abuse by AIPAC and other Jewish interest groups. D’Esposito is a relatively new congressman and may fail to understand the repercussions of legislating such an unconstitutional bill. This maneuver would severe free speech and cut off all criticism of Israel, reserving US foreign interests solely as pro-Israel.
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The Roman Catholic police officer, who served as a “remarkable” councilman for Island Park, NY, may have fallen prey to the Lobby’s narratives. The secular state of Israel is not the one of the Bible, nor is it America’s “greatest ally.” Recall that the Catholic pope, St. Pius, refused to acknowledge Zionism and the state of Israel at its onset. D’Esposito missed that mark, but he also stood with former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which may have provided some establishment drippage on his entry into Congress.