Dear Governor Evers, Its Time to Use Your Veto Pen—the First Amendment Depends on It

Once again, the Wisconsin State Legislature has demonstrated that its moral compass points in only one direction — and that direction is determined not by principle, but by political convenience.

In a move that should alarm every Wisconsin resident who values free speech, academic freedom, and equal protection under the law, the Wisconsin legislature recently passed a bill that would enshrine the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism into law. The bill was passed via voice vote — a procedural maneuver deliberately designed to avoid accountability. No recorded votes. No transparency. Just a quiet rubber stamp on legislation with far-reaching consequences for how we speak, teach, and advocate in this state.

Let’s be clear about what the IHRA definition does. While condemning antisemitism — a goal that is right and just — the IHRA definition, as adopted in legislative policy, has been weaponized in states and nations across the globe to silence legitimate criticism of the Israeli government’s policies, particularly in relation to Palestinian rights. Organizations including the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance have raised urgent alarms about this bill, warning that it conflates political speech with hatred. Grassroots coalitions across the state, including Palestinian solidarity organizations, civil liberties advocates, and interfaith social justice groups, have echoed these concerns, making clear that this legislation creates a dangerous legal framework that could be used to chill campus protests, defund community organizations, and punish educators who dare to teach a complete picture of Middle Eastern history and policy.

This is not a hypothetical threat. Across the country, the IHRA definition has been used as a cudgel against pro-Palestinian student groups, professors, and nonprofits. Wisconsin would be handing its institutions a loaded weapon aimed squarely at the First Amendment.

But here is where the hypocrisy becomes impossible to ignore.

The same Wisconsin legislature who suddenly seized with the urgency of protecting one community from historical erasure and discrimination are the very same lawmakers who have systematically dismantled diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across our state’s universities and public institutions. They are the same legislators who have blocked, defunded, or outright opposed the honest teaching of Black history. They cannot find the political will to recognize the achievements of people of color in state policy, yet they will pass a million-dollar Holocaust education curriculum — sight unseen — without blinking an eye.

Let me say that again: sight unseen. No curriculum review. No educator input. No public vetting. Just a million dollars appropriated to teach one community’s history of persecution (that did not occur on American soil) while simultaneously denying that same standard of dignity and historical truth to Black Wisconsinites, Indigenous peoples, Latinos, and every other community whose story has been deliberately left out of the textbooks.

This is not solidarity. This is selective outrage. This is political theater dressed up as moral courage. Just because one openly criticizes the Israeli government and its policies does not equal antisemitism.

The Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance has been unequivocal: the IHRA bill, as passed, does not protect Jewish people — it protects a political agenda. Real antisemitism must be confronted and condemned in every form. But protecting Jewish communities does not require — and should never involve — suppressing the voices of Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities, or any community engaged in lawful political expression.

Governor Tony Evers now holds the pen.

He has an opportunity to send a powerful message that Wisconsin will not become a state where free speech is rationed based on whose suffering is politically expedient. He must veto this legislation.

I am calling on every Wisconsin resident, every educator, every faith leader, every union member, and every person who believes in equal justice to contact Governor Evers’ office today. Call (608) 266-1212. Email the Governor at https://evers.wi.gov/contact. Make your voice heard.

A government that selectively honors history — celebrating one community’s trauma while erasing another’s — is not governing with justice. It is governing with a double standard. And Wisconsin deserves far better than that.