Originally published in Times of Israel
We cannot dismantle antisemitism without tools that help us take action. And we’re starting the new year with an important new tool in our kit: a proactive, forward-looking plan that will help fight antisemitism — and all forms of bigotry. Right after the horrific attack at Bondi Beach, Australia, four members of Congress introduced a bill called the Antisemitism Response and Prevention Act (ARPA), legislation that actually takes meaningful steps to fight for Jewish safety and the safety of our democracy.
Other policies attempting to take on antisemitism have fallen short of taking concrete steps to make Jewish people safer. Well-meaning politicians around the country (and too many in the Jewish community) have supported codifying into law the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Associations’ (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. But this definition comes with examples that conflate criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism, politicizing the urgent fight against antisemitism (and potentially even fueling it).
This week, New York mayor Zohran Mamdani made headlines when he repealed his predecessor’s executive order codifying the IRHA definition (when he repealed all the executive orders the former mayor issued after being indicted on federal bribery charges). Predictably, this has received disproportionate attention from those looking to further smear Mayor Mamdani as an antisemitic boogeyman. But as my colleague Phylisa Wisdom noted, there is wide disagreement among Jews on whether IHRA would keep Jews safe — especially as laws combatting other forms of oppression do not have codified definitions. Even the IHRA definition’s lead drafter, Kenneth Stern, opposes codifying it. I’m grateful Mayor Mamdani is taking a different, more effective approach to fighting antisemitism in the city so many Jews, including many members of Bend the Arc, call home.
In Congress, there is a bill to codify IHRA at the national level: the Antisemitism Awareness Act. And even this bill’s name suggests its shortcomings. Merely bringing attention to a (harmful) description of antisemitism, rather than taking more concrete steps to fight it, will not keep Jews safe.
In contrast, the ARPA bill has many proposals that would make real impacts.
First, it creates new governmental structures and positions to track and compile hate crimes statistics and coordinate efforts to confront antisemitism (and all forms of hate crimes). One of these positions, the National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism, would lead a whole-of-government response to fighting antisemitism.
Crucially, the legislation stipulates that these roles and offices must be filled by experts — not by political appointees beholden to the whims of, say, an authoritarian presidency. The bill would also reverse the gobsmackingly damaging Trump Administration decision to decimate the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education, which is responsible for defending the rights of students on campuses across the country — including Jewish students.
ARPA also ensures that those who seek federal assistance to fight hate crimes at their houses of worship need not comply with the Trump agenda. Many synagogues and other nonprofits use a federal program called the Nonprofit Security Grants to pay for physical security, such as guards, cameras, and metal detectors. While we at Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, have concerns with the program, this bill also critically ensures that receiving these funds cannot be conditioned on passing political ideology tests or refusing to support immigrants (policies the Trump Administration is trying to enact).
Additionally, the bill supports the Biden Administration’s landmark National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, including its approach to defining antisemitism. This strategy was developed in close communication with Jewish communities and experts on fighting bias-motivated crimes. By contrast, Project Esther — the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for every harmful action the Trump administration has taken with regard to antisemitism — which was created almost entirely by Christian nationalists.
The ARPA plan divorces the vital fight against antisemitism from Trump’s harmful agenda. This legislation serves as a clarion call against the Trump administration’s use of Jewish fear of antisemitism as a smokescreen to enact anti-democratic and anti-immigrant policies. It confronts the harmful way the administration conflates antisemitism with criticism of Israeli government policy to crack down on protected political speech. Trump and his allies’ fuel antisemitism by making Jews the scapegoats for their harmful, unpopular policies, which do nothing to confront antisemitism, instead diverting our concern for our safety towards their unrelated authoritarian agendas.
The ARPA bill won’t become law until control of Congress changes parties. But it remains an important and meaningful tool. It serves as a model for state and local governments. And it gives us the ability to be for something even when we’re fighting against something else. That’s why it’s so critical that people who care about Jewish safety stop supporting the toothless Antisemitism Awareness Act and come together around ARPA instead.
As ARPA co-sponsor Rep. Becca Balint said, “antisemitism is not just an attack on Jewish people — it is a threat to democracy and the safety of all communities.” Antisemitism is part of the machinery of division and fear endangering so many of us. Our safety is bound up together, which is why it is also so important that this bill supports Jewish safety alongside safety for all groups.
We cannot fight antisemitism in isolation; we must do so with our neighbors. We cannot rely on a divisive definition to keep us safe; we must take action. And we cannot simply be “aware” of antisemitism; we must respond to it and prevent it through plans like ARPA.
Jamie Beran is the CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, where she drives the organization’s vision to build an American future free from white supremacy, antisemitism, and racism. Jamie has more than 20 years of experience in the Jewish social justice sector. She is an alum of UJA Federation’s and Columbia Business School’s Institute for Jewish Executive Leadership and holds a BA from Goucher College.
