The missing message in the bill condemning anti-Semitism in the U.S.

Editor's note: Anthony Moretti, a special commentator for CGTN, is an associate professor at the Department of Communication and Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

The U.S. Senate will soon decide whether to support a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives focusing on anti-Semitism. The bill – the core of which would expand the definition of anti-Semitism to incorporate the "targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity" – sailed through the House on May 1. 

There is an irony at play. The bill's authors are Republicans, but some of the fiercest critics of it also come from that party. They fear that the one section – which would make it illegal to state that the Jews killed Jesus – would run up against a belief that many Christians espouse. If the bill, as written, were to become law, they could face arrest for discussing Jesus' death in that way.

The Senate could seek to downtone some of the strongest rhetoric from the House's version, but questions about whether the bill is little more than political posturing will not go away.

Before we go any further, we need to accept that anti-Semitism has no place in normal political or protest discourse in the U.S. Sadly, anti-Semitism, much like the hatred of Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims and many "other" groups, has a long history in the U.S. Never far from the public's consciousness, it gained renewed attention because of the ongoing protests on America's college campuses about the Israel-Hamas war and the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.  

Some protesters have gone too far by suggesting "Zionists" should be barred from college campuses. Critics often use the term "Zionists" whenever they want to describe those Israelis who are hostile toward Palestinians and continue to trample on their rights. Justifiably, Jewish students are fearful whenever the term is hurled at them.

The protesters – provided they remain peaceful and within the confines of the law – may certainly demand their college or university divest from investments in and business dealings with Israel, but they may not cross the proverbial line in the sand and demand Jewish students be kicked off campus. In overwhelming numbers, those students are Jewish by faith but not Israeli by nationality.

There remains a legitimate risk that the protests will spiral even further out of control. The images spread around the country and the world showing outside police agencies rolling onto campuses and arresting faculty and students – most of whom are seeking nothing more than to voice their displeasure at what they see as a humanitarian nightmare unfolding in Gaza – renewed questions about the fractures in American society. Critics are asking legitimate questions, including why university leaders so quickly asked external law enforcement agencies to forcefully haul faculty and students off their campuses. 

The students say they are not going to back down and will continue protesting for weeks. Should they do that, the pressure on college presidents and chancellors to do something will only increase. In such an environment, something could go very wrong.

More than six decades ago, something did. The U.S. was torn apart by the war in Vietnam. The division within American society – summarized simply as "you must support the troops in the fight against Communism" and "the war is immoral and happening in a place where America's vital interests are not threatened" – played out most notably in the country's colleges and universities. 

The most tragic moment took place on May 4, 1970, when National Guard troops descended on the Kent State University campus, in northeast Ohio, to break up an anti-war protest. Four students were shot dead that day; their legacies remain front and center at Kent State, which annually memorializes the event.

American public opinion then was divided over Vietnam, but Americans are divided even more over just about everything now. One person who took part in the protests in the 1960s said the us-or-them mentality in the U.S. today ensures that finding common ground for conversation on the war in the Middle East is all but impossible. 

That reality explains why all sides need to be cautious moving forward. Should anything like what took place on that awful day at Kent State happen in 2024, there is no guarantee that political leaders would be unified in speaking out against deadly assaults on the next generation of Americans. There also is no way to predict how the general public will respond. The potential for Jews in the U.S. to be subjected to dangerous reprisals is possible.

Earlier, I noted the history of hate Asians and other groups have experienced in the U.S. One wonders if such groups are not looking at the discussion about a bill increasing what defines anti-Semitism and wondering why Congress does not consider similar legislation supporting them. Asians – no matter the country where they trace their roots – were viciously targeted during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, the Pew Research Center documented just how deep that hate went. Perhaps the most important finding: "About four in ten Chinese adults (39 percent) say they personally know another Asian person who has been threatened or attacked since the coronavirus outbreak. Similar shares of Korean adults (35 percent) and those who belong to less populous Asian origin groups (39 percent) … say the same."

Why did Republicans not demonstrate the same willingness then to protect Asians? Democrats perhaps can be applauded for advancing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act in 2021 that U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law, but that legislation is not similar to the anti-Semitism legislation. 

Yes, anti-Semitism is horrible. And there should be stiff penalties for promoting it. But anti-Asian, anti-Black and anti-Muslim hate is also cruel and wrong. There should be equally stiff penalties for supporting that. Does America have the fortitude to do something about it?

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