Pennsylvania Education Department Uses Antisemitism Definition That Legitimizes Antizionist Bigotry

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has published an equity glossary that says opposing Zionism is not “on the face of it” antisemitic, language Jewish advocates warn weakens protections for students being targeted with bigotry that treats them as proxies for Israel.

The glossary cites the little-used Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism — an alternative to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition — which has been embraced by numerous eliminationist antizionist groups opposed to IHRA.

The glossary, titled “Glossary of Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Terms for Pennsylvania Learning Environments,” is linked to on PDE’s online Equity, Inclusion and Belonging hub as “EIB Common Language.” The state education department describes the hub as a “coherent collection of resources” for educational communities and says those resources have been “hand-picked and reviewed.”

The glossary, dated January 2023, was developed by a statewide Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Task Force workgroup which included educators from the fields of early education, elementary and secondary education, higher education, and libraries across Pennsylvania. The task force’s stated purpose is to clarify language used in schools, early childhood centers, and libraries while supporting efforts to eliminate barriers to student success.

The language was exposed publicly Monday by StopAntisemitism, which flagged the Pennsylvania Department of Education entry and asked on social media, “WHO CHANGED PENNSYLVANIA’S DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM?”

In its antisemitism entry, the PDE glossary defines antisemitism as “episodic or systematic marginalization and/or oppression” of Jewish people based on stereotypes and myths about Jewish people, Judaism, or Israel. It then adds: “According to the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, as it relates to Israel/Palestine, not all views or actions against Israel, such as supporting justice for Palestinians or opposing Zionism as a form of nationalism are, on the face of it, antisemitic.”

The Jerusalem Declaration was written as an alternative to IHRA and has been embraced by prominent IHRA opponents, including bigoted antizionist organizations.

Jewish Voice for Peace, which promotes the elimination of Israel as a Jewish state, welcomed the Jerusalem Declaration as “an important alternative” to what it called the “discredited and dangerous” IHRA definition. In a separate statement, JVP called the JDA “a useful corrective” to IHRA.

IfNotNow also welcomed the Jerusalem Declaration as “a viable alternative” to IHRA, saying the JDA makes clear that “support for anti-Zionism or the BDS movement is not, on its face, antisemitic.”