Last month, Representative George Hruza (R-St. Louis County) introduced a bill to the Missouri House of Representatives that would create stricter protections for Jewish students in Missouri public education.
HB 2061 would adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism and hold schools accountable to a stricter system of addressing and reporting antisemitic behavior. Hruza says his goal is to reduce antisemitic behavior on campuses and ensure Jewish students feel safe in their identity.
“Here we have Jewish students who have absolutely nothing to do with what is happening in Israel or Gaza are being targeted,” Hruza said. “We now have half of college students hide their Jewish identity in public. That is totally unacceptable.”
The bill could result in issues surrounding political discussion of Israel in classrooms, as critics say it is not clear enough in laying out exactly what criticisms are and aren’t antisemitic.
Scott LaCombe at the University of Missouri’s Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy says the bill would be hard for schools to enforce.
“How do you navigate that boundary of giving people the ability to have free expression while also protecting people and make sure that particularly public institutions are a space that every single student and every single employee can feel safe?” LaCombe said.
Hruza said he hopes, if passed, schools will address antisemitic behavior the same way they would racial incidents.
“I've had a number of calls from teachers who felt that — Jewish teachers, who've had a problem in a couple of the school districts,” Hruza said. “So, hopefully those will die down, because the schools will make it clear to their students and faculty that you know, antisemitism is not going to be tolerated.”
