New Jersey Must Act to Protect its Jewish Population. Now.

(Trenton)-I am gratified to see the North Carolina House advance legislation by a vote of 105-4 to adopt the working definition of antisemitism as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).  By creating a working definition of antisemitism, we can begin to objectively address and effectively curtail the rampant antisemitism we are seeing in New Jersey. North Carolina is poised to become the 36th state in the country to adopt this important and necessary working definition to end the scourge of unprecedented levels of antisemitism we are seeing. New Jersey is no outlier. We are one of the worst states in the nation when it comes to combatting incidents of antisemitism. We have a vibrant Jewish population in NJ that makes up 7% of the state, yet sadly, the Jewish community has been the subject of the majority of all religious hate and 20% of all bias reports. Currently, municipalities, schools, departments, and other jurisdictions are left to their own interpretation of what constitutes antisemitism. By establishing a clear, defined, understanding of antisemitism, we can begin to objectively and consistently address the hatred of Jews.

The time is now. Never again is now. The NJ legislature must pass my bipartisan legislation, A3558/S1292, to adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and join the US State Department, 35 states, 40+ countries, and thousands of local municipalities. We cannot be silent in the face of rising antisemitism, and the passage of this legislation will signal to all residents of NJ that antisemitism and bias has no home in New Jersey. New Jersey cannot remain an outlier in its dereliction of adopting the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. Failure to pass this crucial legislation is not just unacceptable, it is unconscionable and dangerous. I urge my colleagues in the Senate and Assembly to support this bill and to join with soon to be 36 states and growing in committing that it cares about antisemitism.