This sounds like a good thing, right? If this were truly against antisemitism, then it certainly would be! Even reading the full text of the bill doesn’t seem problematic. It just legally defines antisemitism as “the same meaning as the working definition of antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance on May 26, 2016, including the contemporary examples of antisemitism identified therein.”

So, let’s look at that definition.

Their definition includes examples such as:

claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor

So this bill makes it considered discriminatory to call out Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, or to point out the fact that it is an apartheid state.

Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation

What “double standards”? I criticize my own country for holding land that we stole from indigenous people. I call my country fascist for (among other things) its wildly fascistic border policy and use of dehumanizing tactics to disseminate the idea of a “border crisis.” I criticized South Africa during apartheid, and Mexico and Canada for their treatment of indigenous people and other marginalized groups. It looks to me like it’s Israel that wants to be treated with a double standard. When there is a genocide, we should call it out and do everything we can to stop it. Full stop. House Bill 1076 seeks to restrict criticism of the state of Israel. (And I emphasize “state,” since NOTHING about criticizing Israel is about ethnicity or individual people.)

Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis

So pointing out that Israel’s genocide of Palestinians looks a lot like what Nazi Germany sought to do against Jewish people, Roma people, communists, LGBTQ+ people, and other groups is now an act of hate in South Dakota.

Don’t let this bill fool you – this has nothing to do with wanting to protect Jewish people from antisemitism. It only seeks to shield Israel from criticism for its atrocities.