US Politics

Virginia Dems killed measures aimed at combatting antisemitism — just before Holocaust Remembrance Day

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, pictured here, supported two measures aimed at combatting antisemitism, but Virginia Democrats killed both measures.

Virginia Democrats in the state Senate killed two measures supported by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin aimed at combatting antisemitism just two days before Holocaust Remembrance Day last week.

Senate bill 1252 would’ve had Virginia recognize a commonly used “working definition of antisemitism” adopted in 2016 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), an intergovernmental organization that unites governments (including the U.S.) and experts to combat antisemitism and promote Holocaust remembrance.

Six Republicans and one Democrat — Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, who’s Jewish – voted for the bill in committee. However, seven Democrats, led by Senate President Pro tempore Louise Lucas, voted against it and an eighth, state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, abstained from the vote, killing the measure before it could get to the floor. 

McClellan is currently running for Congress in a special election in Virginia’s 4th Congressional District to succeed the late Rep. Donald McEachin.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, pictured here, supported two measures aimed at combatting antisemitism, but Virginia Democrats killed both measures.
(Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

WITH ANTISEMITISM ON THE RISE, AMERICAN JEWISH GROUPS AIM TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST THREATS

As of December, a total of 1,116 global entities — from countries to companies — have adopted and endorsed IHRA’s non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism, according to the Combat Antisemitism Movement. In the U.S., this includes 30 states and 56 cities and counties. The State and Education departments did the same under the Trump administration.

Even though Virginia’s legislature hasn’t adopted the definition, Youngkin issued an executive order recognizing it last year.

According to the definition, 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.”

IHRA provides 11 specific, contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere. Beyond classic antisemitic behavior associated with the likes of the medieval period and Nazi Germany, the examples include denial of the Holocaust and newer forms of antisemitism targeting Israel — such as demonizing the Jewish state,…

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