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Page 12 - Wednesday, January 31, 2024
The Jenkins County Times
jenkinscountytimes.com
Georgia approves bill defining antisemitism
By -Associated Press, newswire/Joe Brady, Editor
Georgia lawmakers
passed a bill last Thursday
that would define
antisemitism in state
law, with Republicans
uniting in support of
Israel's war on Hamas and
some Democrats splitting
over fears of suppressing
support for Palestinians.
"Today we can fight a
pervasive and escalating
threat in our state and
fight it together," said
Senate President Pro Tem
John Kennedy, a Macon
Republican who guided the
bill to Senate passage, 44-
6. The measure had stalled
in a Senate committee in
2023.
The House later agreed
to changes, voting 129-5
for passage. Gov. Brian
Kemp said he would sign
the bill, saying it "builds on
our commitment to protect
Georgians from criminal
acts, including those based
on hate."
Sponsors say adopting the
definition put forward by
the International Holocaust
Remembrance Alliance
would help prosecutors
and other officials identify
hate crimes and illegal
discrimination targeting
Jewish people. Georgia
has a hate crimes law that
allows higher criminal
penalties for crimes
motivated by certain types
of bias.
The definition, which is
only referred to in the bill,
describes antisemitism
as "a certain perception
of Jews, which may be
expressed as hatred toward
Jews. Rhetorical and
physical manifestations of
antisemitism are directed
toward Jewish or non-
Jewish individuals and/
or their property, toward
Jewish community
institutions and religious
facilities."
Some lawmakers
opposed the bill, saying
they thought it would be
used to censor free speech
rights.
"The First Amendment
guarantees our rights as
citizens to criticize any
government, foreign and
domestic," said Sen. Nikki
Merritt, a Lawrenceville
Democrat. "Does our
Constitution not mean
anything?"
But supporters say the
definition will only come
into play after someone has
committed a crime.
"This legislation is not
about stifling free speech,"
Kennedy said. "Nor is
it about the government
stopping someone from
simply sharing their views.
It is about safeguarding
the dignity and the safety
of our Jewish friends and
neighbors."
In at least eight states
nationwide, lawmakers
are working on measures
to define antisemitism,
part of an upsurge of
legislation motivated in
part by the Israel-Hamas
war. Arkansas passed
such a law last year. New
bills are pending this
year in Indiana, Florida,
Massachusetts, New
Jersey, and South Dakota.
The measure grew only
more fraught with the start
of the Israel-Hamas war.
Some protesters chanting
"Free Free Palestine!"
were dragged from a
committee room by police
Monday, prompting one
arrest. That came after
some Jewish residents of
Georgia testified, they had
experienced a surge of
bias incidents, including
an antisemitic group that
hung a Jewish person in
effigy outside a Macon
synagogue over the
summer.
Ghada Elnajjar, a
Palestinian mother from
the Atlanta suburb of
Alpharetta, said she was
concerned the bill could
embolden those seeking
to stifle criticism of Israel.
She was particularly
worried about her sons,
saying they have been
posting social media
messages criticizing Israel
for civilian deaths in Gaza.
The sons have also worn
keffiyehs, the black and
white checkered scarfs
that symbolize Palestinian
solidarity.
The bill "might take a
simple thing as wearing a
keffiyeh or a social media
post and take it a step
further and criminalize it
and jeopardize my boys’
future," she said.
State Rep. John Carson,
a Marietta Republican
who sponsored the bill,
told the House the bill
shows "Georgia stands
with our friends in the
Jewish community."
Rep. El-Mahdi Holly, a
Stockbridge Democrat
and one of Georgia's
handful of Muslim
lawmakers, retorted, "I
wish that was true of
Palestinians as well."
Some opponents said
Thursday that they didn't
want to choose sides in
the Israel-Hamas war.
"We can mourn the
loss of both Israeli and
Palestinian lives," said
Sen. Kim Jackson, a Stone
Mountain Democrat. "We
can both condemn the
unacceptable acts of
antisemitism that are
plaguing the Jewish
community around our
state and acknowledge
that our citizens have the
right to voice their dissent
about the tremendous
harm being visited upon
Palestinian civilians."
Some Democrats said
that if Georgia moves to
define antisemitism, then
it should also define what
prejudice against Muslims,
African Americans or
LGBTQ+ people look like.
"If we’re going to define
antisemitism in the law,
then there a lot of other
groups that experience
racism, and they should
also have definitions,"
said Sen. Sally Harrell,
an Atlanta Democrat who
didn't vote on the bill.
But other Democrats
said they wanted
to support Jewish
constituents and allies,
with some recalling the
historic support of Jewish
people in the struggle for
Black civil rights.
"The Jewish community
stood hand-in-hand with
us," said Senate Minority
Gloria Butler, a Stone
Mountain Democrat.
'Today I return their favor
and stand with them."
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