Key Points:

• A bill to allow lawsuits against teachers accused of antisemitism is one vote away from passing Legislature

• Opponents warn punishment against criticism of Israel threatens teacher rights, free speech

• Supporters argue it’s necessary in the wake of increased antisemitic behavior nationally

Arizona lawmakers are one vote away from adopting legislation to allow lawsuits against individual teachers accused of teaching or promoting antisemitism.

House Bill 2867 would create a first-of-its-kind law in Arizona that would make them personally liable for financial damages sought by the person who sues.

Rep. Michael Way said he crafted the legislation in response to a series of allegedly antisemitic incidents following the October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas that left more than 1,000 dead.

At the same time, the Hamas-run Ministry of Public Health says about 81,000 in Gaza have been killed in Israeli response.

The Queen Creek Republican particularly singled out the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, saying that teachers were promoting antisemitic ideas, including giving students extra credit to participate in demonstrations against Israel. But he said he also has “an inbox full of examples” of antisemitic incidents in public schools — including “propaganda” on classroom walls.

But the measure, which has been approved by the House and awaits action by the full Senate, has run into opposition from lawmakers who say the legislation is overly broad. Sen. Mitzi Epstein said it improperly conflates criticism of Israel and its policies — including how it is conducting the war in Gaza — with antisemitism.

Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association, had a more generic concern.

She said HB2867 bypasses the normal process that parents of public school students can use if they are concerned with something teachers have said or done.

That procedure normally involves parents seeking a meeting with school officials, and ultimately could wind up with a teacher being disciplined, after an investigation, by the state Board of Education.

What’s here, she said, is different.

“People could go straight from an accusation to a lawsuit,” Garcia said, putting the assets of teachers at risk for what might simply be a misunderstanding by a student of something heard in the classroom.

The measure did clear the House on a 38-20 margin. But it squeaked out of the Senate Education Committee with a 4-3 vote, raising questions of whether, as crafted, it goes too far — and whether it can get the 16 votes necessary to clear the Senate later this month.

Way told lawmakers this all started with a communication he got from Michael Goldstein, one of his constituents.

“He and his wife explained they had been studying the Islamic and antisemitic infiltration that has been happening into American schools, both at the K-12 and higher education levels, and their indoctrination of American students for many years,” Way said.

What exacerbated all that, he said, were demonstrations by Hamas supporters after the October 2023 attack on Israel and the response of the Israeli government in moving troops into Gaza to free hostages and eradicate the militant group.

“We watched as professors and students alike supported the efforts of this terrorist organization,” Way said. All that led to a December legislative hearing with a consensus that the Legislature should do something.

Epstein, a Tempe Democrat, said she does not doubt there has been a spurt of anti-Israeli activity, at least on college campuses. She said she agrees with a statement by one witness who said that hate against Jews does not end with Jews.

But she questioned the narrow focus of this measure.

“The hate that begins with African-Americans never ends with African-Americans,” Epstein said.

“The hate that begins with people with disabilities never ends with people with disabilities,” she continued. “The hate that begins with the LGBTQ community never ends with the LBGTQ community.”

Way said he didn’t disagree. But he said his measure is crucial because it’s clear that antisemitism is an issue right now.

“Why hold this issue hostage to other issues?” Way asked.

Epstein was unconvinced. She suggested to Way that he agree to alter his legislation to include other groups who might be subject to hate speech and actions.

“I’d have to look at the language being proposed,” he responded. But Way did not respond to an inquiry by Capitol Media Services asking him if he believes changes are needed.

All that, however, still leaves the issue of whether the language of the measure targeting the teaching and promotion of antisemitism is an effort to silence those who are critical of Israel.

“Fighting for the liberation of Palestinian people is not antisemitic,” said Evan Silverberg, a Jewish officer for Students for Justice in Palestine at ASU.

“In fact, fighting against occupation, discrimination and genocide is perhaps the most Jewish thing that I know,” he told members of the Senate Education Committee. “Judaism and Zionism are not the same thing,” Silverberg said, referring to the movement that started in the 19th century to create a Jewish homeland in what was at the time known as Palestine and, more recently, to protect the Jewish state established in 1948.

But Beverly Goldstein, the wife of Michael who first raised the issue, told lawmakers she sees it through a different lens.

It starts, she said, with her mother surviving Auschwitz and even living through medical experiments conducted by Nazi doctor Josef Mengele.  But Goldstein said there are family members in Israel who took cover in bomb shelters to survive the missiles that have been lobbed into Israel by Hamas.

“I feel like me and my family are being hunted down every day,” she said. “I have to live with this fear every day of my life.”

And she lays at least part of the blame for that is on what is happening in Arizona, saying there are 11 student organizations at ASU “that either are directly Palestinian or share campus events with Palestinian organizations.”

“They are all anti-Jewish and anti-Israel,” Goldstein said.

She also said there have been “ongoing incidents of antisemitism on the U of A campus.

Epstein told Goldstein she is sympathetic to the concerns about what’s been happening.

“The intention to fight antisemitism is noble,” she said.

“But, along the way, this bill would stop protests against something another country does, in this case, Israel,” Epstein continued. “To me, it’s awfully important that we do not quell free speech that’s critical of another country.”

No date has been set for Senate debate.