Oppose H.Res. 1239 — Protect Communities, Not Israel’s Impunity

I urge you to oppose H.Res. 1239 and any companion legislation. If you have cosponsored it, withdraw your name. If it comes to committee or the floor, vote NO. This resolution is not a serious plan to keep Jewish communities safe. It is a poorly veiled attempt to further entrench U.S. politics in support for Israel, its actions, and U.S.-Israel political and military partnership. At a moment when Israel is carrying out genocide, ethnic cleansing, mass displacement, starvation, and the destruction of Palestinian life with U.S. backing, Congress is choosing to police online criticism instead of confronting the atrocities being committed with our money and weapons. Antisemitism is real. It must be fought. But H.Res. 1239 makes Jewish safety conditional on defending Israel. That is dangerous. Jewish communities in the United States are not monolithic. Many Jews do not support Israel’s war, apartheid, occupation, or U.S. complicity. Many Jewish communities and individuals who oppose Zionism or oppose Israel’s actions also face hate, threats, and bigotry — yet legislation like this does not treat them as worthy of protection. This resolution also ignores the dramatic rise in anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian racism in this country. Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, Jewish, Christian, secular, and multiracial communities who reject Israel’s violence and U.S. support for it deserve protection too. Congress cannot claim to oppose hate while only defending communities when they align with U.S. foreign policy toward Israel. Do not confuse criticism of Israel, opposition to Zionism, support for Palestinian liberation, or outrage over genocide with antisemitism. That false conflation does not keep Jews safe. It weakens the fight against real antisemitism, chills protected speech, and gives political cover to a foreign government committing grave crimes. If Congress wants to fight hate, it should do so honestly and universally: oppose antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism, anti-Palestinian racism, white nationalism, and all bigotry without using Jewish safety as a shield for Israel. Members can and should stand proudly for Jewish communities, Muslim communities, Palestinian communities, Christian communities, secular communities, and all people facing hate. H.Res. 1239 must be publicly, loudly, and strongly opposed. Vote NO. Refuse to cosponsor it. Reject any effort to use antisemitism legislation to defend Israel’s impunity.