Antidiscrimination laws have made that distinction harder and harder to maintain. The Antisemitism Awareness Act would continue the trend. The AAA passed the House 320-91 last year, but on Wednesday it stumbled in a Senate committee as Democratic lawmakers and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) raised free-speech concerns. The pause is welcome because the legislation is flawed. But the real lesson is broader: America's civil rights model for managing diversity warps public debate and needs to be reconsidered.

The AAA would broaden the definition of antisemitism, essentially by defining anti-Zionism as antisemitic for the purposes of civil rights law. The legislation incorporates examples of antisemitism, including "applying a double standard" to Israel.