Oklahoma lawmakers are looking to legally define antisemitism. House Bill 2243 uses a definition published by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
That definition has legitimate concerns about hate speech, but some think it’s too broad because it says certain criticisms of Israel are antisemitic. There are fears that scrutinizing the Middle Eastern country could become even more taboo.
Jewish Federation of Tulsa Executive Director Joe Roberts said that is not true.
“The IHRA definition of antisemitism expressly states that legitimate criticism of Israel is perfectly fine, there’s nothing antisemitic about it,” Roberts said. “It does cross a line when you start to make claims that play on antisemitic tropes. When you say things like, ‘All Jews are responsible for the actions of Israel.’ Jews in Tulsa Oklahoma are not responsible for the actions in Israel.”
Roberts said the Jewish Federation of Tulsa supports the potential law because it’s the gold standard of defining antisemitism.
“The Jewish community at large is supportive of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, and when we talk about who gets to define antisemitism, we think it’s important that the Jewish community defines that which is hateful to us,” said Roberts.
This definition is widely recognized with the federal government using the IHRA definition in the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023. But concerns about infringement of free speech persist.
“The adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which equates antisemitism with criticism of the government of Israel, that is something we do not agree with,” Adam Soltani, Oklahoma’s executive director of the Council on American Islam Relations, said.
Soltani said that he is for the protection of religious minorities.
“We do 100% stand behind anything that is done to protect religious minorities, and we outright reject antisemitism and hate towards any religious groups,” Soltani said. “Just in the same way we reject anti-Muslim hate, anti-Muslim bigotry and Islamophobia.”
The IHRA definition used in the law says it would be antisemitic to compare current Israeli leaders to Nazis. Some organizations like the ACLU and Human Rights Watch have disagreed with similar legislation.
HB 2243 will be introduced Feb. 3.
