Bill Text: NJ S4169 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Adopts State definition of anti-Semitism.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-11-07 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee [S4169 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-S4169-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Adopts State definition of anti-Semitism.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning anti-Semitism in the State of New Jersey and supplementing Title 10 of the Revised Statues.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Anti-Semitism and harassment on the basis of actual or perceived national origin, shared ancestry, or ethnic characteristics with a religious group, remains a persistent, pervasive, and disturbing problem in contemporary American society.
b. Data shows that Jews are among the most likely of all minority groups to be victimized by incidents of hate, and such incidents are increasing at an alarming rate.
c. Data also shows that the State of New Jersey ranked third in the nation in anti-Semitic incidents last year.
d. College campus anti-Semitism is systemic, broad and deep, with recent studies showing that the number of Jewish students experiencing anti-Semitism on college campuses across the United States had spiked to nearly 75 percent and, in 2017 alone, there were more than 204 reports of anti-Semitic incidents of harassment, vandalism, or assault against Jewish students on college campuses, an 89 percent increase from the previous year.
e. State officials and institutions, including educational institutions, have a responsibility to protect the public from hate and bigotry, and must be given the tools to stem both criminal conduct as well as discriminatory acts motivated by anti-Semitism.
f. Valid monitoring, informed analysis and investigating, and effective policy-making all require uniform definitions.
g. The standard definition of anti-Semitism, as used by the federal government; the 33 governments that are members of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and the 57 countries, except Russia, that comprise the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, has been an essential definitional tool used to determine contemporary manifestations of anti-Semitism, and includes useful examples of discriminatory anti-Israel acts that cross the line into anti-Semitism.
h. Awareness of this definition of anti-Semitism will increase understanding of the parameters of contemporary anti-Jewish crime and discrimination.
2. a. For the purposes of this act:
"Anti-Semitism" means a certain perception of Jewish persons, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jewish persons, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) hatred or severe disparagement toward Jewish persons and their culture;
(2) rhetorical, violent, or physical anti-Jewish manifestations directed against Jewish or non-Jewish individuals or their property or Jewish community institutions and religious facilities;
(3) the calling for, aiding, encouraging, supporting, or justifying the killing, harming, or defaming of anyone, simply for practicing Judaism or exhibiting a Jewish heritage;
(4) making false and mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, demeaning, or stereotypical allegations about Jewish persons as such or the power of Jewish persons as a collective, including allegations such as the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jewish persons controlling the media, economy, government, or other societal institutions;
(5) accusing those practicing Judaism, or exhibiting a Jewish heritage, whether singularly or collectively, as being wholly responsible for any real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group;
(6) accusing those practicing Judaism, or exhibiting a Jewish heritage, whether singularly or collectively, as being wholly responsible for any real or imagined wrongdoing committed by the State of Israel; and
(7) accusing those practicing Judaism, or exhibiting a Jewish heritage, whether singularly or collectively, as being more loyal to Israel, or the alleged priorities of Jewish persons worldwide, than to the interests of the people of the State of New Jersey, or to the interests of the people of the United States.
The term "anti-Semitism" shall not include criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country.
b. In reviewing, investigating, adjudicating, or determining whether there has been a violation of any policy, law, or regulation prohibiting discriminatory acts, the State shall take into consideration the definition of anti-Semitism contained in subsection a. of this section as part of its assessment, in any decision, determination, adjudication, or judgement as to whether the alleged act was motivated by anti-Semitic intent.
c. Nothing contained in this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon any right protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, or paragraph 6 of Article I of the New Jersey State Constitution. Nothing in this act shall be construed to conflict with local, State, or federal anti-discrimination laws or regulations.
3. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill adopts a State definition of anti-Semitism. A recent report from the Anti-Defamation League noted that in 2018 there were 1,879 anti-Semitic incidents against Jewish persons and Jewish institutions, which included the deadliest attack on Jewish persons in American history. Of the 1,879 incidents in 2018, 1,066 were cases of harassment, an increase of five percent from 2017, and 774 were cases of vandalism, a decrease of 19 percent from 952 in 2017.
New Jersey ranked third in the nation in anti-Semitic incidents in 2018, with 200 anti-Semitic incidents reported. In New Jersey, Bergen, Middlesex, Ocean, and Union counties had the largest number of reported anti-Semitic incidents in 2018 at 36, 23, 21, and 19, respectively.
This bill provides a State definition of anti-Semitism modeled after the definition of anti-Semitism, as used by the federal government, the 33 governments that are members of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and the 57 countries, except Russia, that comprise the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Awareness of this definition of anti-Semitism will increase understanding of the parameters of contemporary anti-Jewish crime and discrimination.
The definition of anti-Semitism in the bill does not include criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country. In reviewing, investigating, adjudicating, or determining whether there has been a violation of any policy, law, or regulation prohibiting discriminatory acts, the State is required to take into consideration the definition of anti-Semitism contained in this bill for the purposes of determining whether the alleged act was motivated by anti-Semitic intent.
Nothing contained in this bill is to be construed to diminish or infringe upon any right protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, or paragraph 6 of Article I of the New Jersey State Constitution, and nothing in this bill is to be construed to conflict with local, State, or federal anti-discrimination laws or regulations.
