Ohio bill would codify antisemitism definition, but opponents argue it violates free speech

An Ohio bill would codify the definition and examples of antisemitism into law, but those opposed to the bill said it would violate free speech and be used to protect speech about Israel. 

Ohio Senate Bill 87 passed the Ohio Senate last month and is now in the Ohio House Judiciary Committee. The Ohio House is on recess until May. 

The bill is an “absolute mess from a free speech perspective,” said ACLU of Ohio’s Legislative Director Gary Daniels. 

“What it seeks to do is ultimately punish or even outlaw speech that is understandably, many times unwelcome, offensive to many,” he said.

“We want our elected representatives to be responsive to (incidents of antisemitism), but they go too far when they start saying these categories of speech that are otherwise protected by the First Amendment are no longer going to be protected in Ohio.” 

The bill does not restrict someone’s First Amendment rights, said Marc Ashed, one of the interim administrators of Ohio Jewish Communities.

“It does not prohibit anybody from being able to say whatever they want as they can do now,” he said. “What it does is it defines antisemitism so that it’s very obvious and clear when things cross the line into hate.” 

What is in the bill? 

The bill would codify into Ohio law this definition of antisemitism — a perception of Jewish people, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jewish people, directed toward Jewish individuals and non-Jewish individuals or their property or toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities in either rhetorical or physical form.

The bill lists 11 contemporary examples of antisemitism that are taken from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and Israel is mentioned in seven of the examples. 

Some of the examples include: 

• Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jewish people in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
• Holding Jewish people collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.
• Accusing Jewish people, or the state of Israel, of inventing or exaggerating the genocide that occurred in Europe during World War II.
• Accusing Jewish people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish individual or group, or for acts committed by non-Jewish people. 
• Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jewish people worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations. 
• Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, including claims that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavor
• Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazi regime. 
• Applying double standards by requiring of Israel a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation. 

Ohio state Sen. Terry Johnson, R-McDermott, introduced the bill and could not be reached for comment for the story, but he referred to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel in his sponsor testimony last year. 

“We witnessed a concerning wave of extremist demonstrations across several college campuses (after the Oct. 7 attack),” he said. “Antisemitism is seemingly on the rise in these institutions of higher education, exacerbating tensions against Jewish students. These students have increasingly found themselves facing discrimination, harassment, and even violence.”

Ohio had 233 antisemitic incidents in 2024, 237 incidents in 2023, and 61 incidents in 2022, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League. 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order in 2022 that used the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism which defined antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” 

Wisconsin recently became the 38th state to adopt the IHRA definition working definition of antisemitism. 

Bill’s opposition

More than 250 Jewish Ohioans have signed an online petition against the bill, said Emily Kichler, who is with Ohio Divest Coalition, a group that advocates for the statewide divestment from Israel Bonds. 

“(The bill) has really nothing to do with antisemitism and has everything to do with protecting Israel,” Kichler said, who is also with Jewish Voice for Peace.

Ohio lawmakers should not be serving the interests of the nation of Israel, said Sean Abbott-Klafter, who is with Jewish Voice for Peace’s Cleveland chapter. 

“It’s an unconstitutional encroachment on our rights of free speech at the most fundamental level,” he said. “No nation in the world should be above criticism.”

Some of those examples listed in the bill do not have to do with the Jewish faith, Daniels said. 

“It has to do with the state of Israel and the government of Israel, and that’s not the same as the Jewish faith,” he said. “It’s free speech to hate another person. Holocaust denial … that’s protected free speech, no matter how unwelcome it is to those that are on the receiving end of that speech.” 

Bill’s support

The bill would help ensure Jewish students are safe on college campuses, said Nathaniel Grossman, director of external relations at Hillel at Ohio State University. 

Two Ohio State students were assaulted and Hillel at Ohio State was vandalized in November 2023. 

“We see people who are engaging in classic examples of antisemitism,” Grossman said. “I think (the bill) goes a long way to ensuring that Jewish students and Jewish citizens of Ohio are protected. … This bill does not eliminate criticism of Israel by any means.”

Hatred against the Jewish community has continued to rise in the last decade, Ashed said. 

“I think universities, businesses, (and) state governments are more comfortable identifying (antisemitism), but this just gives them another tool in the tool belt to be able to do it,” Ashed said. 

There is already a definition of antisemitism in Ohio because of DeWine’s executive order. 

“The importance of codifying it is not making it an issue that every four years can be repealed or opened up again,” Ashed said. “We just wanted to make this a permanent law.”

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