Right now, the self-appointed leaders of the American Jewish community are lobbying members of Congress behind closed doors in a campaign to permanently codify the controversial IHRA working definition of antisemitism — which does more to shield the Israeli government from accountability than make American Jews safe.

We need to act now and make our voices heard to make sure this doesn’t happen.

We cannot continue pretending that "both sides" of the political spectrum are equally dangerous to the Jewish community. The past four years have been a stark reminder of the danger we face when our government ignores and even encourages white nationalism. From the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh to the attack in El Paso, we understand this deadly violence threatens Jews and our neighbors. We cannot continue to unjustly target Palestinians, college students, and human rights advocates who are fighting for justice alongside us instead of focusing the resources of our federal government on going after white nationalists who put our lives in danger.

Unfortunately, instead of addressing the threat of white supremacy, the self-appointed leaders of the American Jewish community are pushing for an ineffective approach: asking federal and state governments to adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. Organizations like the ADL, American Jewish Committee, Conference of Presidents, and even Jewish Federations have made legal codification of the IHRA working definition one of their top legislative priorities in 2021.

And they are gaining momentum — recently Rep. Ted Duetch, the co-chair of the House Committee to Combat Antisemitism, repeated his public support of the IHRA definition. But it is a new era, and we must say no to IHRA.

That is why we call on our Members of Congress to demand they resist these dishonest calls to action, and instead publicly commit to not voting for any legislation that would codify the controversial IHRA working definition into law.

The IHRA working definition is a tool of the far-right, part of their long-term strategy to shut down criticism of Israeli policy. It has been used repeatedly by those seeking to shield the Israeli government from accountability for denying millions of Palestinians their basic human rights.

The crux of the issue with the IHRA definition is with its examples, some of which are vague and intentionally blur the lines between legitimate criticism of Israeli policy and antisemitism. Already, the IHRA definition has been abused to silence students and Palestinian rights activists in places like Germany and the UK. And when Trump signed an executive order in 2019 codifying the IHRA definition within the US Department of Education, it was used against students on campuses like Columbia and New York University, infringing on their First Amendment rights.

Holding the Israeli government accountable is a Jewish moral imperative, not antisemitic. So under the IHRA’s working definition, even some members of the Israeli Knesset would be considered antisemites.

We need to ensure that our elected officials are fighting for all of our collective safety. Adopting the IHRA definition into law would do the opposite: it will not fight antisemitism and is part of a strategy to weaken multiracial progressive movements and set marginalized communities against each other.

We demand our representatives to refuse to codify this into law, which would only sow further fear and division, making all of us all less safe.