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A state Senate committee unanimously approved a new version of legislation Monday defining antisemitism and incorporating it into Georgia’s hate crimes law following a hearing that featured emotional arguments for and against the measure.
House Bill 30 passed the Georgia House of Representatives last year but died in the Senate. It would establish as part of state law the definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental organization founded by Sweden’s prime minister in 1998.
The bill provides for additional penalties when crimes are committed because the victim is Jewish.
Last year’s bill ran into criticism that it was ambiguous in its application, Senate President Pro Tempore John Kennedy, R-Macon, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday. Kennedy is the chief sponsor of the new version of the measure, which he said provides greater clarity.
“This substitute clearly sets out the government’s duties,” he said. “Agencies can rely on the definition to determine if antisemitism is present.”
Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, the House bill’s chief sponsor, cited a dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents in Georgia as reason to pass legislation defining antisemitism.
“Without a standard definition, it’s easy for antisemites to hide behind that ambiguity,” he said.
An hourlong hearing before Monday’s vote drew speakers supporting and defending the bill, including Jewish Georgians on both sides.
Several opponents argued the legislation could be used to silence critics of the war Israel launched in the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas massacred Israeli Jews in October.
“This bill will not keep us safe,” said Marisa Pyle, an…
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