A New Jersey bill that calls for prohibiting anti-Semitism at public schools and universities has stirred controversy because it would also label certain criticisms of Israel as prohibited activity.

The bill, introduced by Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Sen. Robert Singer, is part of a larger national push to fight anti-Semitism, but one that critics say also attempts to stifle a growing pro-Palestinian movement on campuses.

“You can’t crack down on criticism of Israel any more than it would be constitutional to crack down on criticism of American policy or policy of any foreign nation,” said Joe Cohn, legislative and policy director of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, an anti-censorship organization.

“The First Amendment doesn’t allow us to single out certain entities who may not be criticized,” said Cohn, who wrote about the bill last week.

The bill, introduced June 24, calls for prohibiting discrimination and slander of Jewish people at a time when Jewish Americans face a rise in hate crimes and bias incidents. New Jersey had the third-highest rate of anti-Semitic incidents last year, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation League. There were 200 reported incidents in the state, including a rash of swastikas found in public schools.

“It is hard to explain the trauma a young Jewish child experiences when they walk into a classroom and see a swastika on the chalkboard,” Singer, R-Ocean, said in a statement. “Anti-Semitism is a cancer on society and it is growing in New Jersey.”

The senator said in an interview that he was “sensitive to the issue,” noting that his daughter was injured in a bus bombing in Israel in 2003. He said he does not believe the bill targets free speech.

“I don’t think it’s a First Amendment issue,” he said. “I really don’t. We’re talking about vindictive comments.”

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What’s in the bill?

The bill would expand existing law, which already bans discrimination in schools based on religion, to expressly prohibit anti-Semitism. A corresponding bill is being sponsored in the state Assembly by Annette Quijano, D-Union.

It describes anti-Semitism as calling for violence against Jews, demonizing or making stereotypical allegations about Jews, accusing Jews of being more loyal to Israel and denying the Holocaust.

It also includes provisions about Israel. It states that it is anti-Semitic to compare Israeli policy and that of the Nazis; to blame Israel “for all inter-religious or political tensions”; to apply “double standards” not demanded of other nations; and to focus peace or human rights investigations only on Israel.

Schools that violate the bill could face investigations and fines, Singer said.

Pro-Israel groups have pressured universities and government officials to clamp down on anti-Israel speech around the country, claiming it’s anti-Semitic, targets Jewish students and makes them feel harassed on their own campuses.

Last year, Kenneth Marcus, the assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education, rewrote the working definition of anti-Semitism to include criticisms of Israel. Around the same time, the Trump appointee also reopened an 8-year-old complaint against Rutgers University alleging that Jewish students were subject to a hostile environment.

In May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law similar to the one proposed in the New Jersey Senate. South Carolina passed a version of the law in 2018. Similar legislation is pending in Congress.

On Monday, nine advocacy groups in New Jersey released a statement opposing the bill, including Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian activist groups.

The legislation “would create confusion between what are real and punishable anti-Semitic hate crimes and the protected free-speech rights of American students and faculty members,” said Jim Sues, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Cohn said the New Jersey bill seeks to stifle debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Beyond that, it is broadly worded and vague, giving power to legislators to determine what is and isn't discrimination — something he said should be decided by courts.

"As soon as you start politicizing and defining those terms, you run into serious problems," he said. "Does anyone think a legislator should decide what is or isn’t racist?"

Sweeney wrote in a press release that the bill "clarifies that any hateful act committed with an anti-Semitic intent is against the law, and will be punished accordingly," and called it a "commonsense move."

The bill was referred to the Senate Education Committee.