Democratic state lawmakers in Washington have slipped a pro-Hamas amendment into a bill that is designed to ensure that K-12 students are educated about the Holocaust.
You read that right. Progressives in the state legislature thought it was a good idea to take a measure designed to teach about the history of oppression against the Jewish people and others and insert material intended to imply that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which is yet another way the far left is injecting its brand of antisemitism into education.
Needless to say, this move has generated robust debate over the issue of genocide and how the education system is failing students.
House Bill 2037 was a companion to a Senate bill, introduced by State Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, that mandates public schools introduce lessons on the Holocaust and other genocides. During the month of April, which is International Genocide Prevention and Awareness Month, public schools must also either conduct or promote age-appropriate educational activities around the Holocaust and genocide education.
The legislation was not controversial, fueled by Republican concerns that one in five young Americans do not believe the Holocaust happened. As alarming to Republicans was local support for Hamas terrorists, with scores of locals chanting, “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.” How does one side with Hamas after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel? Ignorance that isn’t being addressed in school. However, this bill may not be able to offer the intended education.
The amendment is ostensibly intended to expand the focus of the legislation to include the impact of genocides on diasporic communities. The amendment mandates that “screening criteria designed to eliminate bias in instructional materials must be used when selecting curricula and materials to implement this section.”
The original bill was created to address the reality that only one in five Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 do not believe the Holocaust happened.
Unfortunately, progressives in Washington saw the bill as an opportunity to ensure that children are subjected to antisemitic narratives about the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Despite the fact that Israel clearly is not committing genocide against the Palestinians, these people insist on opening the door to promoting that lie to impressionable children.
Washington Republicans have been put in a tough position because of the addition, also known as the “Hamas amendment.”
House Democrats realized they wouldn’t have the votes to pass the Holocaust education bill without the amendment due to their radical members and instead of having the antisemitic rhetoric from their caucus be live-streamed, they adjourned for the night.
The next day they came back united on including the “Hamas amendment,” forcing the GOP to either pass the legislation or appear as if they opposed Holocaust education.
Instead of promoting education about the horrors of actual genocide, progressives would rather hijack the initiative to push their anti-Israel agenda, which is yet another move underscoring the reality that folks on the far left view schools not as educational facilities but as vehicles for indoctrination.
The eventual fate of the bill is hard to predict at this point. Republicans in the state Senate have vowed to get the amendment removed. But if this legislation does not pass, they will be blamed for not passing a bill to educate children on the Holocaust. The progressive played a clever trick in this instance. But the battle isn’t over yet.
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