House Passes Resolution Stating ‘Anti-Zionism Is Antisemitism’

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

The House on Tuesday passed a resolution that says “anti-Zionism is antisemitism,” the chamber’s latest piece of legislation conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

The resolution, which is presented as a resolution condemning antisemitism, passed in a vote of 314-14-92. Only thirteen Democrats and one Republican voted against the legislation, while 92 Democrats voted “present” in protest of a line buried in the bill that explicitly claims anti-Zionism is antisemitism.

The Republican-drafted resolution declares that the House of Representatives “clearly and firmly states that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the most senior Jewish member of the House, criticized the language of the bill ahead of the vote. “The resolution suggests that ALL anti-Zionism is antisemitism. That is either intellectually disingenuous or just factually wrong. And it unfairly implicates many of my orthodox former constituents in Brooklyn, many of whose families rose from the ashes of the Holocaust,” he said.

Nadler claimed that “most anti-Zionism is antisemitism” but added that if authors of the bill “were at all familiar with Jewish history and culture, should know about Jewish anti-Zionism that was, and is, expressly NOT antisemitic.”

“This resolution ignores the fact that even today, certain orthodox Hasidic Jewish communities—the Satmars in New York and others—as well as adherents of the pre-state Jewish labor movement have held views that are at odds with the modern Zionist conception,” he said.

“There are over 200 synagogues in our community that officially disavow Zionism”.

Greater Brooklyn boasts even more than that.

Guess what, we are all antisemites according to the ‘Anti-Zionism is Antisemitism’ resolution in Congress…

Tragicomedy pic.twitter.com/SEsP0ZMUCg

— Torah Jews (@TorahJews) December 5, 2023

While coming out strongly against the language, Nadler voted “present” instead of “no.” The thirteen Democrats who voted against the bill include Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Cori Bush (D-MO), Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), Jesús García (D-IL), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Summer Lee (D-PA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Delia Ramirez (D-IL), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was the only Republican to vote against the bill. Last week, he was the lone member of Congress to vote against a resolution that claimed “denying Israel’s right to exist is a form of antisemitism.”

Massie and Schumer sparred on X in the aftermath…

If only you cared half as much about our border as you do my tweets. https://t.co/8lj2gheBRL

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) December 5, 2023

Schumer accused the rep. from Kentucky of posting an “antisemitic” meme and demanded that he remove it…

Rep. Massie, you’re a sitting Member of Congress.

This is antisemitic, disgusting, dangerous, and exactly the type of thing I was talking about in my Senate address.

Take this down. https://t.co/jVX0NMdISI

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 5, 2023

Explaining his opposition, Massie said the resolution also equated anti-Zionism with antisemitism, although not as explicitly as the bill passed on Tuesday.