Oppose the COLUMBIA Act – Stop Weaponizing Antisemitism to Silence Dissent

I’m writing to urge you to oppose H.R.1033, the so-called “COLUMBIA Act.” This bill is nothing more than a brazen attempt to weaponize antisemitism in order to suppress constitutionally protected speech—especially speech critical of Israel and the U.S. government’s support of its ongoing war crimes, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide against the Palestinian people. Under the false guise of combating antisemitism, this bill seeks to penalize universities for allowing open debate on U.S. foreign policy and Israel’s gross violations of international law. It is an authoritarian attempt to redefine antisemitism in a way that equates criticism of a state—a state engaged in documented crimes against humanity—with hate speech. Make no mistake: this legislation is part of a coordinated crackdown on the growing grassroots movement calling for an end to U.S. complicity in Israel’s atrocities. It aims to punish universities that refuse to silence their students and faculty for speaking out against genocide. That is fundamentally anti-democratic and unconstitutional. If passed, the COLUMBIA Act would embolden the most dangerous forces in our politics—those who seek to stifle protest, criminalize dissent, and shield state violence from accountability. You do not have to agree with every chant on a college campus to understand that this legislation is about repression, not protection. The First Amendment does not disappear when powerful lobbies are uncomfortable. And the fight against antisemitism cannot be hijacked to justify the erasure of Palestinian voices, the criminalization of student protest, or the whitewashing of apartheid. I expect you to publicly and unequivocally oppose H.R.1033 and any future legislation that attempts to use antisemitism as a smokescreen for silencing truth and protecting genocidal regimes. There is no place for such Orwellian legislation in a democratic society.