All Democrats, along with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), supported the Gaza-related amendment.
Leave it to anti-Israel firebrand Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to impede efforts in passing crucial legislation designed to clamp down on the unfettered antisemitism plaguing American campuses.
During a contentious Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee meeting on Wednesday, Sanders pushed through an amendment to the Antisemitism Awareness Act stating that using free speech rights to oppose the “devastation of Gaza” is not antisemitic.
“Opposition and concern about this country moving toward an authoritarian society. You are seeing an understanding that speaking out and opposing Netanyahu’s horrific war in Gaza, which has killed over 50,000 people, is not antisemitic, and that there is growing concern about what the Trump administration is doing in attacking our constitutional due process,” Sanders said.
Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA), visibly frustrated throughout the proceedings, accused Sanders and the Democrats of deliberately employing procedural tactics to kill the legislation, which passed the House last year with overwhelming bipartisan support.
“So that it’s clear for the people that are watching, supporting these amendments is an effort to kill this bill, which protects Jewish students from antisemitic acts,” Cassidy said during the meeting. “The bill includes protections for free speech. So let’s not be naive as to what’s taking place here.”
All Democrats, along with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), supported the Gaza-related amendment.
Paul also raised religious objections to the bill’s incorporation of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, particularly its identification of the deicide charge as antisemitic.
“This bill would subject to punishment speech claiming that Jews killed Jesus,” Paul argued, adding that while the charge that all Jews are responsible is “absurd and insulting,” the “New Testament reports Jews present at the trial, including the high priest and crowd called for his crucifixion.”
In an unusual move, Paul also entered into the record a list of 400 Jewish American comedians he claims have used stereotypical language about Jews that could be targeted under the bill.
Jewish advocacy organizations immediately condemned the outcome. AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann declared the amended version had “significantly undermined the purpose of the legislation,” adding the organization was “deeply disappointed the committee was unable to pass the bill.”
In the end, the final vote on the legislation was postponed after Republicans couldn’t return to the committee room quickly enough before the two-hour meeting limit expired.
Democrats refused Cassidy’s request to waive the time limitation. However, Cassidy promised to continue fighting for the legislation but acknowledged the amendments create serious obstacles.
“I couldn’t get my people back. And Democrats have limited debate until noon as an obvious tactic to defeat the bill,” Cassidy told Jewish Insider afterward. “They don’t care if Jewish students are harassed on college campuses.”
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