Ohio Senate passes bill to define anti-Semitism on college campuses
The Ohio Senate passed legislation that would require public colleges and universities to adopt a formal definition of anti-Semitism in response to the growing anti-Semitism on college and university campuses all around the country, as two people were arrested on the Ohio State University’s campus for protesting Israeli soldiers.
Senate Bill 87, introduced by state Sen. Terry Johnson, R-McDermott, and now headed to the state House, expands existing anti-Semitism-related laws and directs institutions to educate staff on how to identify it.
While the bill defines anti-Semitism vaguely as a “certain perception of Jews,” it does provide some specific examples of what would be considered anti-Semitism, such as calling for violence against Jewish individuals and alleging that Jewish people control institutions such as the media or government.
The bill also highlighted that a person criticizing the government of Israel doesn’t constitute anti-Semitism and affirms that it does not infringe upon First Amendment rights.
During the investigation, a state agency will refer back to the definition of anti-Semitism to determine whether an alleged act or rhetoric could be considered anti-Semitism.
In a release, Johnson said that he introduced the bill after seeing many anti-Semitic incidents happening all around America on college and university campuses.
“These protests have crossed the line into hatred by targeting Jewish students and expressing uncivilized rhetoric,” Johnson said. “It is essential for campuses, especially our state universities, to actively investigate and address anti-Semitism and other forms of ethnic intimidation.”
Among those who supported the bill were Marc Ashed, one of the interim administrators of the Ohio Jewish Communities, and Nathaniel Grossman, director of internal relations at Hillel at OSU, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
“It does not prohibit anybody from being able to say whatever they want as they can do now,” Ashed told the publication. “What it does is it defines antisemitism so that it’s very obvious and clear when things cross the line into hate.”
However, among those who opposed the bill are Gary Daniels, the ACLU of Ohio’s legislative director; Emily Kichler of Ohio Divest Coalition; Sean Abbot-Klafter of Jewish Voice for Peace’s Cleveland chapter; and more than 250 Jewish Ohioans who signed an online petition against the bill, the Journal reported.
Meanwhile, WOSU Public Media reported that the Ohio State University police officers arrested two people who protested an event on Tuesday that invited Israeli soldiers to speak on campus, with the university’s spokesperson, Dan Hedman, confirming the arrests to the news source.
The event, “Triggered The Ceaseless Tour,” took place in a meeting room at the Ohio Union at 6 p.m. and was organized by Students Supporting Israel at OSU, according to WOSU. The event allegedly featured Israel Defense Forces Reservists who talked about what they experienced after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“Following multiple warnings, two individuals were arrested for criminal trespass after disrupting a scheduled event inside the Ohio Union and violating university space standards,” Hedman said, adding that the university officials allegedly asked the individuals to leave the event multiple times, but they refused.
Students for Justice in Palestine’s OSU chapter alleged that anti-Israel students are massively arrested by the university officials, while calling the Israeli soldiers who were present at the event “war criminals” for allegedly bombing the Gaza Strip.
While the OSU arrests anti-Israel activists, it allegedly doesn’t notify its students about deadly stabbings on campus, according to another report by WOSU.
However, while the students are complaining about not being notified, it is possible they never received a notification because they were not signed up for Buckeye Alerts, which notify students via text messages, according to OSU’s official website.
