SB 127 (PN 76) would amend the Public School Code to mandate instruction in Holocaust, genocide and human rights violations and require schools to post all related materials and curriculum online. The ACLU-PA opposes this bill for two reasons:
First, SB 127 would eliminate the current requirement to adopt rules and regulations under the Regulatory Review Act to ensure that the statutory obligations are assessed, met, and implemented.
Second, SB 127 would adopt the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism. The ACLU has urged federal and state legislators to reject definitions of antisemitism that encompass protected speech. Problematically, the IHRA definition of antisemitism includes protected criticism of Israel and its policies. For example, the definition declares that “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis,” and “applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation” are all examples of antisemitism.
Adopting this definition would open the door to targeting a range of protected speech, such as criticism of the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians, analogies likening Israeli policies to those of Nazi Germany, or sharing differing beliefs about the right to a Jewish state. People may disagree about whether such speech is antisemitic, but that debate is irrelevant to the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from censoring or penalizing core political speech.
