U.S. House Passes Bill 411-1 to Define Criticism of Israel as 'Antisemitic'

[truthatallcost]

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 411-1 for a bill that would force President Trump to nominate an anti-Semitism envoy, a position that has been vacant since he took office. The definition of anti-Semitism the position uses includes certain criticisms of Israel.

The bill, H.R.221- Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act, was sponsored by Rep. Christopher H. Smith [R-NJ-4] and has 87 co-sponsors. Smith’s largest campaign donor was NorPAC, a pro-Israel political action committee.

The position of anti-Semitism envoy was created in 2004 over the objections of the State Department, which said it wasn’t needed. It was urged by Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky, who had formulated a new definition of anti-Semitism that includes criticism of Israel.

Previous envoys before or after serving in the position worked for the Israel lobbying organization AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The second envoy, Hannah Rosenthal, adopted the Sharansky definition of anti-Semitism for use by the State Department. This is part of an international campaign to insert the new Israel-centric definition in governments and other bodies around the world.

The lawmaker who voted against the bill was Republican Justin Amash from Michigan, a civil libertarian who is Chairman of the House Liberty Caucus.

The new Congress has been quick to take up legislation promoted by the Israel lobby. The first Senate bill of 2019 is a composite bill that would give Israel billions of dollars and “combat” the campaign to boycott Israel over its human rights violations among its measures.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/house...who-would-monitor-criticism-of-israel/253812/

People often claim that Israel doesn't unduly influence American politicians to do their bidding, but the passage of HR 221 demonstrates the absurdity of that argument. Even the new 'progressive' House members who engaged in big talk about taking a new direction on Israel voted Yes. MONEY TALKS.

 

[Grim17]

So how does this bill "punish" someone who criticizes Israel, as the caption on that image states?

As far as I can tell, there is no punishment.


.

 

[Xelor]

People often claim that Israel doesn't unduly influence American politicians to do their bidding, but the passage of HR 221 demonstrates the absurdity of that argument. Even the new 'progressive' House members who engaged in big talk about taking a new direction on Israel voted Yes. MONEY TALKS.

I don't expect that legislation to withstand judicial review if it, as the photo caption indicates, punishes criticism of Israel.

 

[truthatallcost]

So how does this bill "punish" someone who criticizes Israel, as the caption on that image states?

As far as I can tell, there is no punishment.


.

We're increasingly moving in a direction where First Amendment rights don't apply to speech concerning Israel. States have begun inserting this crap into law, and the Israel lobby sees this as one of their chief objectives. The MSM is currently working on convincing people that using the term 'globalism' in a negative context is antisemitism. How many more controls over your life and liberty are you willing to hand over to these people?

 

[Fledermaus]

People often claim that Israel doesn't unduly influence American politicians to do their bidding, but the passage of HR 221 demonstrates the absurdity of that argument. Even the new 'progressive' House members who engaged in big talk about taking a new direction on Israel voted Yes. MONEY TALKS.

The bill is to fill a seat left vacant when Trump took office. A seat created 2004.


And the person reporting (whining) about it is from "If America Knew". A group known for Anti-Israeli slander to include lying about USS Liberty, etc.



THREAD FAIL....

 

[OrphanSlug]

The OP is overreacting. The Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act of 2018 is just a bolt on to the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004, both of which have no real functional rule of law or enforcement of. They are both show pieces to “promote” and “work with” organizations that work to combat anti-semitism. In terms of effectiveness of legislation, the only plausible output would be to serve to the President and Secretary of State the various organizations around the globe determined to be involved in anti-semitism. The recent act adds an “Special Envoy” at the rank of ambassador, to serve as the reporter of what is found. That is about it.

I do not disagree that this is very pro-Israel and serves as a feel good that Congress did something (then and now) given what Israel is facing on the world stage. I would also agree that odds are there will be monetary support for those in Congress that do anything that seems pro-Israel. All things considered we are their last ally, as even nations around Europe are pushing Israel to look at the Palestinians a different way. And do not get me started on how useless the UN is on this (as well as just about everything else as well.)

Other than that we have little to discuss.

The bill itself (either one I’ve named) does not go to the distance of defining what is and is not anti-semitism, nor does it outline what to really do about finding it wherever it is found around the globe. The first names an intention that could be argued was a protest at the time to how other nations were looking at Israel, the second bill names an Envoy.

And that basically makes both of these bills about as meaningful as calling for a national Coffee day.

No real law in domestic terms, no real action, no real legal definitions, no real enforceability, no real punishment for any nation or anyone, the list goes on.

 

[Crovax]

We're increasingly moving in a direction where First Amendment rights don't apply to speech concerning Israel. States have begun inserting this crap into law, and the Israel lobby sees this as one of their chief objectives. The MSM is currently working on convincing people that using the term 'globalism' in a negative context is antisemitism. How many more controls over your life and liberty are you willing to hand over to these people?

You’re asking the wrong questions

 

[DaveFagan]

The bill is to fill a seat left vacant when Trump took office. A seat created 2004.


And the person reporting (whining) about it is from "If America Knew". A group known for Anti-Israeli slander to include lying about USS Liberty, etc.



THREAD FAIL....

Do tell us the DoD version of the truth of the attack by Israel on the US Navy goodship USS Liberty. Many dead sailors. Flying brightly USA Colors. In International waters. Comedy version, I presume.
.\/

 

[Pedestrian]

The OP is overreacting. The Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act of 2018 is just a bolt on to the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004, both of which have no real functional rule of law or enforcement of. They are both show pieces to “promote” and “work with” organizations that work to combat anti-semitism. In terms of effectiveness of legislation, the only plausible output would be to serve to the President and Secretary of State the various organizations around the globe determined to be involved in anti-semitism. The recent act adds an “Special Envoy” at the rank of ambassador, to serve as the reporter of what is found. That is about it.

I do not disagree that this is very pro-Israel and serves as a feel good that Congress did something (then and now) given what Israel is facing on the world stage. I would also agree that odds are there will be monetary support for those in Congress that do anything that seems pro-Israel. All things considered we are their last ally, as even nations around Europe are pushing Israel to look at the Palestinians a different way. And do not get me started on how useless the UN is on this (as well as just about everything else as well.)

Other than that we have little to discuss.

The bill itself (either one I’ve named) does not go to the distance of defining what is and is not anti-semitism, nor does it outline what to really do about finding it wherever it is found around the globe. The first names an intention that could be argued was a protest at the time to how other nations were looking at Israel, the second bill names an Envoy.

And that basically makes both of these bills about as meaningful as calling for a national Coffee day.

No real law in domestic terms, no real action, no real legal definitions, no real enforceability, no real punishment for any nation or anyone, the list goes on.

A $124,000 (up to $187,000) job in an ambassadorial position but essentially a figure head. Feel good window dressing.

Could be an ice-breaker for future such admonishments and then law...in the US.

 

[Virgil Jones]

I just watched today a French language film called "the Roundup". I do not feel comforted by any leftist position because the left has truly failed humanity for at least a century

 

[Fledermaus]

Do tell us the DoD version of the truth of the attack by Israel on the US Navy goodship USS Liberty. Many dead sailors. Flying brightly USA Colors. In International waters. Comedy version, I presume.
.\/

You mean the version that multiple investigations found to be true?

Friendly Fire is as deadly as Enemy fire.

An American ship that wasn't where it was supposed to be. Attacked by Israeli aircraft carrying weapons not designed for anti-shipping and torpedo boats that broke off when they learned the identity of the ship and radioed to ask if assistance was required or desired (aid was turned down).

The Israelis admitted to the attack (immediately upon learning it was a US ship) and paid reparations.

Your CT version is?

 

[truthatallcost]

Do tell us the DoD version of the truth of the attack by Israel on the US Navy goodship USS Liberty. Many dead sailors. Flying brightly USA Colors. In International waters. Comedy version, I presume.
.\/

It was an assident. Israel luvs teh America, and would never backstab or exploit dem. Stop with the canards already Dave!

 

[truthatallcost]

You mean the version that multiple investigations found to be true?

Friendly Fire is as deadly as Enemy fire.

An American ship that wasn't where it was supposed to be. Attacked by Israeli aircraft carrying weapons not designed for anti-shipping and torpedo boats that broke off when they learned the identity of the ship and radioed to ask if assistance was required or desired (aid was turned down).

The Israelis admitted to the attack (immediately upon learning it was a US ship) and paid reparations.

Your CT version is?

Sorry, I answered for in post #12.

 

[Praxas]

People often claim that Israel doesn't unduly influence American politicians to do their bidding, but the passage of HR 221 demonstrates the absurdity of that argument. Even the new 'progressive' House members who engaged in big talk about taking a new direction on Israel voted Yes. MONEY TALKS.

Please show the text of the actual bill that states criticism of Israel is anti-semetic.

 

[DaveFagan]

USS Liberty
The USS Liberty Timeline
Americans for Middle East Understanding
December 2002

June 8, 1967, Israeli forces attack the USS Liberty. They kill 34 American servicemen, wounding 171 others. It will be the highest casualty rate ever inflicted on a U.S. naval vessel, with 7 out of every 10 crew members killed or injured. It will also be the only peacetime attack on a U.S. naval vessel that, to this day, the Congress of the United States of America formally refuses to investigate. https://ifamericaknew.org/us_ints/ul-ameu.html

 

[DaveFagan]

(Continued) https://ifamericaknew.org/us_ints/ul-ameu.html

 

[DaveFagan]

(Continued) https://ifamericaknew.org/us_ints/ul-ameu.html

 

[DaveFagan]

(Continued) https://ifamericaknew.org/us_ints/ul-ameu.html

 

[DaveFagan]

References
Two 12-page articles have appeared in AMEU’s bimonthly publication The Link:

“The USS Liberty Affair,” by James E. Ennes, Jr. This issue is available in PDF download from the AMEU website. Search by author or year (1984).
“Remember the Liberty,” by John Borne, with an introductory memorandum by Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This issue is available in PDF download from the AMEU website. Search by author or year (1997).
Ennes, James, Assault on the Liberty, 2002 edition. Available from AMEU, $25.00 Ennes was the lieutenant on watch at the time the Israelis first attacked the Liberty. A full chapter is devoted to Israel’s motives for knowingly attacking the ship.
www.ameu.org/Resources-(1)/USS-Liberty.aspx

 

[DaveFagan]

(See "References")

The official web site for the USS Liberty is: USS Liberty Memorial
www.ameu.org/Resources-(1)/USS-Liberty.aspx

 

[Fledermaus]

Sorry, I answered for in post #12.

You weren't asked.

 

[Redress]

People often claim that Israel doesn't unduly influence American politicians to do their bidding, but the passage of HR 221 demonstrates the absurdity of that argument. Even the new 'progressive' House members who engaged in big talk about taking a new direction on Israel voted Yes. MONEY TALKS.

The bill does nothing even remotely like what the image in your OP claims. Here is the text of the bill, which you might want to read: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/221/text

 

[Fledermaus]

Bamford, James, Body of Secrets, 2001 edition. Available from AMEU, $19.95. Bamford offers several important pieces of information previous classified. On page 226, e.g., he tells of President Johnson’s reaction:

At 11:29 A.M. (5:29 P.M.), Johnson took the unusual step of ordering the JCS to recall the fighters while the Liberty still lay smoldering, sinking, fearful of another attack, without aid, and with its decks covered with the dead, the dying, and the wounded. Onboard the flagship of the Sixth Fleet, Rear Admiral Lawrence R. Geis, who commanded the carrier force in the Mediterranean, was angry and puzzled at the recall and protested it to Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara.
Admiral Geis was shocked by what he heard next. According to information obtained for Body of Secrets, “President Lyndon Johnson came on with a comment that he didn’t care if the ship sank, he would not embarrass his allies.” Admiral Geis told Lieutenant Commander David Lewis, the head of the NSA group on the Liberty, about the comment but asked him to keep it secret until after Geis died. It was a promise that Lewis kept.
Tito, Howard. The Loss of Liberty. This is a 50-minute video made in 2001, and includes graphic footage of the attack, and interviews with high ranking naval personnel. The video is also available through AMEU for $22.50.

Triplett, William, “Death on the USS Liberty,” in “VVA Veteran,” Sept-Oct. 2002. Offers chilling interviews with survivors. Larry Weaver, a 21-year-old bosun’s mate on the Liberty, who was not expected to live, was airlifted to the USS AMERICA, where he immediately underwent the first of 26 major surgeries. He was subsequently flown to American hospitals in Crete, Italy and Germany, and then sent to the Philadelphia Naval Hospital for recovery. He recalls:
“I was four days in intensive care in a wheelchair in Philadelphia, and I was told an admiral wanted to talk to me,” Weaver recalls. “I went to meet him in a room and he closed the door and deadbolted it, which kind of scared me. He then took his stars off, saying, “I’m not an admiral now. Tell me what you know.” Weaver told him, emphasizing, among other points, that throughout most of the attack, because of his position on the ship, he had had a clear view of the Stars and Stripes flying off the ship’s bow, clearly identifying the Liberty as American. The Israelis claim the spy ship was flying no flag. “The admiral then said, ‘Okay,’ and put his stars back on and he pointed at me. And he said, ‘Larry, if you repeat this or talk to anyone about this you’ll be put into prison and we’ll throw away the key.’”
Green, Stephen. i>Taking Sides: America’s Secret Relations with a Militant Israel. Published in 1984 by William Morrow and Company, Inc., this work remains a primary source on the attack and cover-up.

Borne, John. The USS Liberty: Dissenting History Versus Official History. Published in 1995, this book focuses on the contradictions in the various official explanations that have been given for Israel’s attack on the Liberty.

The official web site for the USS Liberty is: USS Liberty Memorial

They "target" the bridge and antenna with heat speaking missiles?????

WTF?

That nonsense makes sense to you?

As to the "unmarked aircraft". That runs counter to the testimony of crewmen including one who cried seeing the Star of David.

And the Israelis wanted to sink the USS Liberty so bad and kill all the crew so they sheared off from torpedo attack and stopped the air strikes...



Hmmmmm

 

[Fledermaus]

Bamford, James, Body of Secrets, 2001 edition. Available from AMEU, $19.95. Bamford offers several important pieces of information previous classified. On page 226, e.g., he tells of President Johnson’s reaction:

<snip>

Triplett, William, “Death on the USS Liberty,” in “VVA Veteran,” Sept-Oct. 2002. Offers chilling interviews with survivors. Larry Weaver, a 21-year-old bosun’s mate on the Liberty, who was not expected to live, was airlifted to the USS AMERICA, where he immediately underwent the first of 26 major surgeries. He was subsequently flown to American hospitals in Crete, Italy and Germany, and then sent to the Philadelphia Naval Hospital for recovery. He recalls:
“I was four days in intensive care in a wheelchair in Philadelphia, and I was told an admiral wanted to talk to me,” Weaver recalls. “I went to meet him in a room and he closed the door and deadbolted it, which kind of scared me. He then took his stars off, saying, “I’m not an admiral now. Tell me what you know.” Weaver told him, emphasizing, among other points, that throughout most of the attack, because of his position on the ship, he had had a clear view of the Stars and Stripes flying off the ship’s bow, clearly identifying the Liberty as American. The Israelis claim the spy ship was flying no flag. “The admiral then said, ‘Okay,’ and put his stars back on and he pointed at me. And he said, ‘Larry, if you repeat this or talk to anyone about this you’ll be put into prison and we’ll throw away the key.’”
Green, Stephen. i>Taking Sides: America’s Secret Relations with a Militant Israel. Published in 1984 by William Morrow and Company, Inc., this work remains a primary source on the attack and cover-up.

Borne, John. The USS Liberty: Dissenting History Versus Official History. Published in 1995, this book focuses on the contradictions in the various official explanations that have been given for Israel’s attack on the Liberty.

The official web site for the USS Liberty is: USS Liberty Memorial

American inquiries, memoranda, records of testimony, and various reports involving or mentioning the Liberty attack include, but are not limited to, the following:

U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry of June 1967
Joint Chief of Staff's Report of June 1967.
CIA Intelligence Memorandums of June 1967
Clark Clifford Report of July 1967
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Testimony during hearings of the 1967 Foreign Aid Authorization bill, July 1967
House Armed Services Committee Investigation of 1971
The NSA History Report of 1981
The U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry record contains testimony by fourteen Liberty crew members and five subject matter experts; exhibits of attack damage photographs, various messages and memoranda; and findings of fact. The court concluded that the testimony record revealed "a shallow investigation, plagued by myriad disagreements between the captain and his crew".[58] As to culpability, the court said "It was not the responsibility of the court to rule on the culpability of the attackers, and no evidence was heard from the attacking nation", the court concluded that "available evidence combines to indicate ... (that the attack was) a case of mistaken identity." Additionally, the Court found that "heroism displayed by the Commanding Officer, officers and men of the Liberty was exceptional."

The Joint Chief of Staff's Report contains findings of fact related only to communication system failures associated with the Liberty attack. It was not concerned with matters of culpability, nor does it contain statements thereof.

The CIA Memoranda consist of two documents: one dated June 13, 1967, and the other dated June 21, 1967. The June 13 memorandum is an "account of circumstances of the attack ... compiled from all available sources".[59] The June 21 memorandum is a point-by-point analysis of Israeli inquiry findings of fact. It concludes: "The attack was not made in malice toward the U.S. and was by mistake, but the failure of the IDF Headquarters and the attacking aircraft to identify the Liberty and the subsequent attack by torpedo boats were both incongruous and indicative of gross negligence."

The Clark Clifford Report consists of a review of "all available information on the subject" and "deals with the question of Israeli culpability", according to its transmittal memorandum. The report concludes: "The unprovoked attack on the Liberty constitutes a flagrant act of gross negligence for which the Israeli Government should be held completely responsible, and the Israeli military personnel involved should be punished

 

[truthatallcost]

The bill does nothing even remotely like what the image in your OP claims. Here is the text of the bill, which you might want to read: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/221/text

So review what the envoy position has entailed in the past, especially during Obama's first term; it was held by an individual who has spent her entire life working in the murky world of Jewish 'non-profits', of which there are more than can be named in one post. She mandated to the State dept a new definition of antisemitism, which is actually very old at this point, dating back to the early 1970's, when rabid Zio-Americans published a book claiming they'd discovered 'New Antisemitism'. This 'new' discovery was and is just a tacky attempt to mislabel people who aren't antisemitic as such, if they criticize Israel.

By having the envoy position elevated to ambassador status which requires Trump to fill the position in 90 days, Congress is mandating another Jewish Interests Czar to crack down on dissent.