More than a dozen Northwestern students are set to visit Washington, D.C. to voice their concerns about antisemitism on campus amid proceedings related to a Wednesday vote on the Antisemitism Awareness Act.
If the policy passes, the U.S. Department of Education will be required to utilize the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism to inform its enforcement of federal statutes that prohibit discrimination against students.
That definition, adopted by the Department of State and 30 IHRA member countries, defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.” It also includes both rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism directed at Jewish individuals, institutions and facilities.
IHRA includes “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination,” like calling “the existence of a State of Israel…a racist endeavor,” in its working definition of antisemitism. However, the group notes “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”
The congressional vote set to take place tomorrow comes in the wake of an agreement reached Monday by the University and pro-Palestine demonstrators who had set up a more than 100 hour-long encampment on Deering Meadow. It also comes as Jewish NU students express mixed feelings about the recently deescalated demonstration.
In a video message to the NU community Tuesday evening, University President Michael Schill condemned incidents of antisemitism on campus, like posters of the Star of David crossed out or of himself with devil horns.
“Here at Northwestern, like at other universities, we have seen a rise in antisemitism, whether from within our community or from outside forces,” Schill said in the video. “Jewish students must feel safe walking past Deering Meadow and everywhere on our campus.”
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