The American Bar Association‘s House of Delegates voted to pass a resolution on Monday condemning antisemitism, a move some Jewish groups both supported and lamented for not adopting a “widely recognized” definition of the term.
Delegates with the ABA met Monday for the group’s Midyear Meeting in New Orleans to pass a series of proposals, including Resolution 514, which not only condemns antisemitism but calls for the government to improve security for Jewish institutions amid an uptick in antisemitic discourse, threats, and violence in recent years.
Ahead of the vote, the ABA made a decision earlier this month to alter Resolution 514, omitting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which provides broad definitions such as “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israel policy to that of the Nazis” and “Holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the state of Israel.” Those definitions were included in the initial proposal but crossed out when delegates voted to approve the resolution.
JEWISH ADVOCATES ‘DISAPPOINTED’ WITH ABA FOR CHANGING ANTISEMITISM DEFINITION BEFORE KEY VOTE
The American Jewish Committee responded to the ABA’s decision, saying while it “appreciates” the condemnation of antisemitism, the group believes omitting the “widely recognized” definition was a mistake.
“Some ABA members claimed the IHRA definition inhibits free speech because it considers all criticism of Israel antisemitic. That is false. Even a cursory reading of the definition would disprove that,” a spokesperson for American Jewish Committee told the Washington Examiner.
The International Legal Forum, a group of over 4,000 lawyers, told the Washington Examiner in a statement that groups claiming the definition stifles free speech are “being intentionally and willfully misleading.”
As part of the Resolution 514 report, the First Amendment was mentioned and defended the free speech rights of “anti-Jewish bigots” while voicing disagreement with their perspectives.
“The tiki-torch-bearing marchers who converged on Charlottesville in August 2017 chanting ‘Jews will not replace us!’ had the constitutional right to assemble and march in support of racist ideas,” the report states. “This resolution does not limit those Constitutional rights of anti-Jewish bigots; rather, it urges the ABA to fight their false and evil speech with true and moral speech.”
Some groups, such as Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, voiced concerns with adopting the definition, saying it could be used to stifle free speech of people who claim the Israeli government commits violent acts against Palestinians.
Mark Schickman, a California-based House delegate for the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice, spoke in favor of the resolution and defended it as a pro-First Amendment stance.
“We are huge proponents of free speech. This resolution does not, and it never has, stopped those kinds of activities. And we can’t stop the hard-core Jew haters from doing it,” Schickman said.
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There was no opposition to Resolution 514 during Monday’s vote. Its passage comes as the Justice Department reports that out of 7,262 hate crimes recorded in 2021, more than 300 were antisemitic incidents.
The measure was sponsored by the ABA’s Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice, the Coalition of Racial and Ethnic Justice, the International Law Section, the Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, the Senior Lawyers Division, and the Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
