Florida's Beleaguered Nazi Thugs Now Facing Jail Time

After Covid-19 forced overcrowded prisons to send many inmates home for lock-down, elected officials from Florida promised Israelis a novel solution to Florida's glut of unused jail space.

Israelis concerned the US state of Florida may be underutilizing available prison cells were reassured last month when a group of elected officials from Florida, including Republican presidential hopeful, Governor Ron DeSantis, flew to Israel to announce a first-in-America law that provides for prison terms for Americans who publicly express unpopular or offensive opinions about Jews or Israel.

The law, HB 269, criminalizes speech that is deemed “intimidating” by the state and, in remarks at the ceremony in Jerusalem in which he officially signed the bill into law, Governor DeSantis explicitly linked the law to HB 741, a bill he signed into law—also in Jerusalem—in May, 2019. Included in HB 741, writes Andrew Torba, “is a requirement that all Florida public schools, colleges, and universities adopt a definition of anti-Semitism that includes certain forms of criticism of Israel. The definition in question is the one adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which defines anti-Semitism as [among other things]… ‘applying double standards to Israel.’”

Florida Republican State Representative Randy Fine, who accompanied the governor on the latest Israel trip, put it this way, “To Florida’s Nazi thugs, I have news: attack Jews on their property and you’re going to prison."

Florida Republican State Representative Randy Fine threatening Nazi thugs with, from left, puzzled American actor Ed Harris, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, and, right, Martin Latsis, former director of the Ukrainian CheKa and now performing as the popular Orlando drag queen, Iona Traylor.

“Attacking” Jews by applying a “double standard” to Israel can now land you behind bars in the state of Florida with a third degree felony conviction. It’s hard enough to believe these laws could work their way successfully through an American legislative body, but that the authors of the laws weren’t laughed out of the state for the straight elementary school playground quality of these anti-American abominations is really sad. “OK, you guys, from now on, the rule is if they apply a double standard to Israel? Then they’re Nazi thugs, alright? No, wait, and they have to go to jail for like two years—no, five years.”

Assuming Representative Fine thinks these laws will pass judicial muster,¹ how does he think this would even work in the real world?

HB 741 prohibits anti-Semitism in any “public educational institution” whether by employees or students—including kindergartners. The term "anti-Semitism," as defined in the law, includes doing or saying things that manifest hatred of either a particular Jew or the Jewish people. Indeed, one needn’t actually even say or do anything. Just having the hatred is defined by the law as antisemitism.

Examples of anti-Semitism include making false or stereotypical allegations about Jewish power, “especially, but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions,” accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for…wrongdoing committed by a Jewish…group..., accusing Jews of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust, or of having dual loyalties. Also, a college freshman in Florida has committed anti-Semitism if he compares “contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis,” or if he applies a “double standard” to Israel.²

Significantly, HB 741 adds “religion” to the list of protected classes, alongside race, gender, and so on. HB 269, signed into law in Jerusalem last month, makes it a third degree felony to “threaten” or “harass” a member of a protected class—including religion—by, among other things, handing out political flyers or spray-painting political graffiti in a downtown alleyway. This brings the anti-Semitism provisions in HB 741 out of the schools and into the wider political world.

So say someone is handing out flyers on a public sidewalk downtown and the flyers contain material holding Israel to a double standard, i.e., the flyers are anti-Semitic according to the text of HB 741. If a Jew is handed the flyer, reads it, feels threatened or intimidated, and calls the police, the person handing out the flyers can be arrested and charged with a third degree felony under HB 269. If convicted, it must be reported as a hate crime (to ensure the SPLC gets the offender’s name in their database) and the sentence can be as long as ten years behind bars. For a political opinion.

Dangerously totalitarian, not to mention insane and completely un-American. But, imagine this scenario. There is a late-night discussion in a college dorm room somewhere in Florida between a Jew and a gentile and the gentile makes an argument that holds Israel to a double standard. Can the Jew, if he feels threatened, call the police and have his adversary arrested on a third degree felony charge of anti-Semitism? Or if their debate is in a public forum sponsored by the university, can a Jewish audience member claim to feel threatened by the double standard, call the police, and have the gentile debater arrested? Can the university be sued? Or what if the debate is broadcast? Can any Jewish member of the viewing public claim to feel threatened by the anti-Semitic argument and call in a felony complaint? Would the police rush onto the stage and arrest the offending debater? Would the cameras keep rolling? How about if the owner of a house facing the entrance of a Florida college puts up a sign on his own property holding Israel to a double standard? Can the state throw him in prison for that?

It gets even stupider. Every Jewish member of Congress is absolutely for open borders when it comes to US immigration law. Yet, every Jewish member of Congress is also just as absolutely supportive of Israel and its highly restrictive—okay, racist—immigration policies. Israel even has a wall. How is that not a double standard applied to Israel? It seems clear that every Jewish member (and, let’s face it, just about every gentile member of Congress, as well) can be arrested the minute they step foot in Florida if any Jew meets them at the airport and claims to feel threatened by the double standard applied to Israel. What's the controlling authority? Federal law? State law? Deuteronomy? Whoever has the guns? I mean, really, what a stupid, juvenile mess.

The DeSantis pro-Semitic laws also provide for incarceration of anyone who mocks religious symbols. This is from a Sacha Baron Cohen skit:

Should Mr. Cohen avoid Florida?

One of the most distressing aspects of these laws is that they both passed both houses of the Florida legislature unanimously. It’s not as if these quislings are unaware. Governor DeSantis explicitly linked the two laws together. In Israel. Then he and his entourage enjoyed some sight-seeing and took a tour of one of Israel’s top export industries: campaign donations.

1. Given the deplorable state of the judiciary, it’s not impossible.

2. Thankfully, however, nothing in HB 741 “shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon any right protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.” Yaaay! Thanks, Randy Fine!