SLS 22RS-4437 ORIGINAL
2022 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 202
BY SENATOR HENRY
LEGIS POWERS/FUNCTIONS. Recognizes the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance's Working Definition of Antisemitism and endorses its use to identify antisemitism
discrimination.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To recognize the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's Working Definition of
3 Antisemitism, including the eleven contemporary examples, and endorse the use of
4 the working definition as a framework to identify discrimination rooted in
5 antisemitism and for discussions to address such discrimination.
6 WHEREAS, there is a growing challenge across the United States of discrimination
7 based on antisemitism; and
8 WHEREAS, the Jewish American experience is a story of faith, fortitude, and
9 progress and is connected to key tenets of American identity; and
10 WHEREAS, generations of Jewish people have come to Louisiana fleeing
11 oppression, discrimination, and persecution in search of a better life for themselves and their
12 children; and
13 WHEREAS, antisemitism, including harassment based on actual or perceived Jewish
14 origin, ancestry, ethnicity, identity, affiliation, or faith, remains a persistent and disturbing
15 problem in American society; and
16 WHEREAS, antisemitism is an insidious form of prejudice stretching back a
17 millennia that attacks the humanity of the Jewish people and has led to violence and
18 destruction of lives and communities; and
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SLS 22RS-4437 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL's) 2021 Audit of Antisemitic
2 Incidents in the United States recorded 2,717 acts of assault, vandalism, and harassment in
3 2021 alone, an average of more than seven incidents per day; a thirty-four percent increase
4 from 2020 and the highest year of incidents on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic
5 incidents in 1979; and
6 WHEREAS, the Jewish community continues to be targeted in the United States and,
7 according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is consistently the most likely of all
8 religious groups to be victimized by hate crime; and
9 WHEREAS, antisemitism is a challenge to the basic principles of tolerance,
10 pluralism, and democracy, and the shared values that bind Americans and their many allies
11 together; and
12 WHEREAS, antisemitism threats can be found in public life, the media, schools, the
13 workplace, and the religious sphere; and
14 WHEREAS, state officials and institutions have a responsibility to protect citizens
15 from acts of hate and bigotry, including antisemitism, and must have the tools to do so; and
16 WHEREAS, valid monitoring, informed analysis, investigation, and effective policy-
17 making benefit from accurate and uniform definitions; and
18 WHEREAS, while there can be no exhaustive definition of antisemitism, the
19 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA's) Working Definition of
20 Antisemitism has been an essential definitional tool used to determine contemporary
21 manifestations of antisemitism, and includes useful examples of discriminatory anti-Israel
22 acts that can cross the line into antisemitism; and
23 WHEREAS, antisemitism is multifaceted and multiform, manifesting in many ways,
24 making it easy to spread and hard to combat; and
25 WHEREAS, the IHRA's Working Definition of Antisemitism has been adopted
26 through legislative or executive action in an increasing number of states and several
27 countries; and
28 WHEREAS, IHRA's Working Definition of Antisemitism provides in part that
29 antisemitism is "a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward
30 Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or
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SLS 22RS-4437 ORIGINAL
1 non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and
2 religious facilities"; and
3 WHEREAS, IHRA's working definition can assist in countering antisemitism and
4 hate through engagement with community leaders, governmental transparency, and public
5 information-sharing regarding efforts to fight antisemitism and the investigation and
6 prosecution of those who commit criminal acts, consistent with civil liberties protections.
7 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
8 does hereby recognizes the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's Working
9 Definition of Antisemitism, including the eleven contemporary examples, and endorses the
10 use of the working definition as a framework to identify discrimination rooted in
11 antisemitism and for discussions to address such discrimination.
12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
13 affirms its ongoing commitment to cultivate an inclusive, safe, and just society and culture
14 that values the diversity of our community, works to ensure equitable opportunities in all
15 major facets of society, and celebrates both our individuality and commonality.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Dawn Romero Watson.
DIGEST
SR 202 Original 2022 Regular Session Henry
Recognizes the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's Working Definition of
Antisemitism, including the eleven contemporary examples, and endorses the use of the
working definition as a framework to identify discrimination rooted in antisemitism and for
discussions to address such discrimination.
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