- A bill to define antisemitism in Georgia law, known as House Bill 30, initially stalled in 2023 but received unanimous endorsement from a key Senate committee on Monday.
- The revised version of the bill gained support, notably from Republicans expressing solidarity with Israel in its war with Hamas.
- Opponents fear that House Bill 30 could be used to shield criticism of Israeli war crimes against Palestinians, leading to clashes during the vote.
A bill to define antisemitism in Georgia law stalled in 2023 over how it should be worded. But a revised version won unanimous endorsement from a key Senate committee Monday, backed by Republican support for Israel in its war with Hamas and a surge in reported bias incidents against Jewish people in the state.
“I think the whole world saw what happened on Oct. 7 and the fallout to Jewish communities around the world,” said Democratic state Rep. Esther Panitch of Sandy Springs, the only Jewish member of Georgia’s legislature. She is a co-sponsor of the measure that won the support of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
But fears of opponents who say House Bill 30 would be used as a shield to block criticism of Israeli war crimes against Palestinians are stronger than ever, showing how what was already a fraught topic in early 2023 has become downright raw with the Israel-Hamas war. Some protesters chanting “Free Free Palestine!” were dragged from the committee room by police officers after the vote. Other opposition witnesses told lawmakers they were privileging political support for Israel.
GEORGIA LAWMAKERS WILL TURN ATTENTION TO ANTISEMITISM, ELECTIONS AS 2024 REGULAR SESSION BEGINS
“What it does do is weaponize attacks and hatred against my community and to silence Palestinian and Muslim Georgians, making threats against me somehow more important than threats against my own neighbors and implying that my safety can only come at their expense,” said Marissa Pyle, who said she is Jewish. “Making other people less safe does not…
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