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