Bill Text: CA AR35 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relative to anti-Semitism.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 46-22)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-08-28 - Read. Amended. Adopted. (Page 6435.). [AR35 Detail]

Download: California-2011-AR35-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: HR 35	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Halderman and Bonnie Lowenthal
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Block, Galgiani, Gatto, and Williams)

                        AUGUST 6, 2012

   Relative to anti-Semitism.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
             HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST



   WHEREAS, The frequency and severity of incidents of contemporary
global anti-Semitism are increasing according to reports by
representatives from nations around the world, including the United
States Department of State in 2008, the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe in 2004, and the Inter-parliamentary
Coalition for Combating Antisemitism in 2009; and
   WHEREAS, On July 20, 2009, the United States Senate unanimously
approved a resolution that unequivocally condemns all forms of
anti-Semitism and rejects attempts to rationalize anti-Jewish hatred
or attacks as a justifiable expression of disaffection or frustration
over political events in the Middle East or elsewhere, and decries
the comparison of Jews to Nazis perpetrating the Holocaust or
genocide as a pernicious form of anti-Semitism; and
   WHEREAS, The United States Department of State, the United Kingdom'
s All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Anti-semitism, and the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe have adopted or
endorsed the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights' working
definition of anti-Semitism, which notes that in context certain
language or behavior demonizes and delegitimizes Israel or attacks
Israel with classic anti-Semitic stereotypes, such as denying the
Jewish people their right to self-determination, applying double
standards by requiring of Israel a behavior not expected or demanded
of any other democratic nation, drawing comparisons of contemporary
Israeli police to that of the Nazis, and accusing the Jewish people,
or Israel, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust; and
   WHEREAS, The United States Commission on Civil Rights reported in
2006 that anti-Semitism exists on some college campuses and is often
cloaked as criticism of Israel, and recommended that colleges and
universities ensure that students are protected from actions that
could create a hostile anti-Semitic environment; and
   WHEREAS, Over the last decade some Jewish students on public
postsecondary education institution campuses in California have
experienced the following: (1) physical aggression, harassment, and
intimidation by members of student or community groups in
student-sponsored protests and rallies held on campus; (2) speakers,
films, and exhibits sponsored by student, faculty, and community
groups that engage in anti-Semitic discourse or use anti-Semitic
imagery and language to falsely describe Israel, Zionists, and Jews,
including that Israel is a racist, apartheid, or Nazi state, that
Israel is guilty of heinous crimes against humanity such as ethnic
cleansing and genocide, that the Jewish state should be destroyed,
that violence against Jews is justified, that Jews exaggerate the
Holocaust as a tool of Zionist propaganda, and that Jews in America
wield excessive power over American foreign policy; (3) swastikas and
other anti-Semitic graffiti in residential halls, public areas on
campus, and Hillel houses; (4) student- and faculty-sponsored
boycott, divestment, and sanction campaigns against Israel that are a
means of demonizing Israel and seek to harm the Jewish state; (5)
actions of student groups that encourage support for terrorist
organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah and openly advocate
terrorism against Israel and the Jewish people; and (6) suppression
and disruption of free speech that present Israel's point of view;
and
   WHEREAS, California public postsecondary educational institutions
are admired throughout the world for their excellence and diversity,
and it is important that they provide continued leadership in the
fight against anti-Semitism; and
   WHEREAS, While the response by California public postsecondary
educational institutions to incidents of hate and intimidation,
including anti-Semitism, with actions designed to make their campuses
safer and more inclusive of diverse students, faculty, and staff
have increased, the problem requires additional serious attention on
both a campuswide and systemwide basis; and
   WHEREAS, The Legislature supports the actions already taken by the
President of the University of California (UC) and urges the
leadership to continue to take action to address anti-Semitism on its
campuses while staying within the constraints of the First Amendment
to the United States Constitution; and
   WHEREAS, The Legislature supports the following examples of the UC
leadership: (1) refusal by the UC Board of Regents and the President
of UC to consider divesture from companies doing business with
Israel; (2) strengthening UC's systemwide policies prohibiting
student conduct motivated by bias, including religious bias; (3)
implementation of a campus climate reporting system allowing any
member of a UC campus community to report incidents of intolerance or
bias and development of a comprehensive UC systemwide campus climate
assessment; (4) the formation of an Advisory Council on Campus
Climate, Culture and Inclusion whose members have conducted in-depth
visits with Jewish students and groups on UC campuses to better
understand their concerns and challenges and report back to the
President of the UC; and (5) immediate statements by UC leaders
strongly condemning specific acts of intolerance or bias when they
occur; and
   WHEREAS, While these actions are important steps, strong
leadership from the top remains an important priority so that no
administrator, faculty, or student group can be in any doubt that
anti-Semitic activity will not be tolerated in the classroom or on
campus, and that no public resources will be allowed to be used for
anti-Semitic or any intolerant agitation; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the
Legislature unequivocally condemns all forms of intolerance,
including anti-Semitism, on public postsecondary educational
institution campuses in California; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes recent actions by
officials of public postsecondary educational institutions in
California and calls upon those institutions to increase their
efforts to swiftly and unequivocally condemn acts of anti-Semitism on
their campuses and to utilize existing resources, such as the
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights' working definition of
anti-Semitism, to help guide campus discussion about, and promote, as
appropriate, educational programs for combating anti-Semitism on
their campuses; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.