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Student Association indefinitely tabled a resolution condemning anti-Semitism on Monday because several members expressed concerns over the bill’s definition of anti-Semitism.

The bill, which assembly member Noah Wagner introduced last Monday, would adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism within SA. Members of SA, including President Justine Hastings, were concerned that the bill’s language equated anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism, or opposition to the Jewish movement for self-determination in Israel.

“Due to the widespread critique and the wording used by the IHRA and its implications on limiting academic freedom, and potentially doing harm to Palestinians and questions of Palestinian human rights, I personally did not feel it was SA’s place to endorse this definition,” Hastings said after the meeting. “The resolution equates anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism, which is not only false but dangerous for the reasons described above.”

Some members were concerned about a clause in the bill that denounces BDS, a Palestinian-led movement that supports boycotts, divestments and economic sanctions against Israel.

Although Hastings and other assembly members suggested that the bill only adopt certain portions of the IHRA’s definition, Wagner and the bill’s co-author, Kate Berman, the co-president of SU’s Chabad House, were unwilling to change its wording.

“Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. Not denouncing BDS is anti-Semitism,” Wagner said.  “We just have concerns about what is going on around the country, and I think that it is especially important to adopt this and that we have a stance against this.”

After Wagner introduced the bill last Monday, SA’s Diversity Affairs Committee also made several suggestions regarding the bill’s definition of anti-Semitism, said Candace Ogbu, co-chair of the committee.

“We understand that this is a prominent issue, and we want our students to feel safe and heard,” Ogbu said. “Some of the suggestions we made after voting was possibly making the bill expand on other topics to crack down on hate speech on campus.”

SA will table the bill until May, when the next legislative session begins, said David Bruen, SA’s speaker of assembly.

The bill’s introduction comes after several anti-Semitic incidents occurred both at SU and on college campuses across the country. In November 2019, a swastika was drawn in the snow outside of The 505 on Walnut, a luxury student apartment complex near campus.

#NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students, protested the university’s response to a slew of racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic incidents on campus, as well as SU’s treatment of students of color, during the previous academic year.

Hastings said that, while it is important to denounce anti-Semitism, the organization should not be equating anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.

“I believe this resolution has positive and worthy intentions,” Hastings said. “They want SA to adopt the full IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism, and due to the concerns raised, I personally do not think that is just.”

Other business:

• SA passed the Campaign Finance Reform Act, which will allow approved SA campaigns to have access to a shared pool of funds. Each set of candidates will be restricted to spending $200 on their campaign, and SA will return extra money to its budget.

Published on February 23, 2021 at 1:57 am