2024 -- H 7417

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONDEMNING ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND BEYOND

     Introduced By: Representatives Ackerman, Finkelman, Boylan, Shekarchi, Knight,
Blazejewski, Kazarian, Kennedy, Edwards, and McNamara

     Date Introduced: February 01, 2024

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, Anti-Semitism, which includes harassment on the basis of actual or

perceived Jewish origin, ancestry, ethnicity, identity, affiliation, or religious faith, remains a

persistent, pervasive, and disturbing problem in American society; and

     WHEREAS, In 2010, the United States Department of State adopted the following

definition of anti-Semitism: “Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be

expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are

directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish

community institutions and religious facilities”; and

     WHEREAS, Jews continue to be a targeted minority in the United States and are

consistently the most likely of all religious groups to be victimized by incidents of hate. Jews

make up only 2 percent of the country’s population, yet anti-Semitic hate crimes accounted for

9.6 percent of all hate crimes reported in 2022 according to an FBI report. Furthermore, the attack

on Israel on October 7 and resulting conflict has caused anti-Semitic events in America to

increase by 388 percent per the Anti-Defamation League’s latest reports, including local incidents

of leafletting, vandalism, and verbal harassment; and

     WHEREAS, Eleven worshippers were killed and several others were injured in the

deadliest attack against the American Jewish community at the Tree of Life Synagogue in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 27, 2018; and

     WHEREAS, The attack by the terrorist organization Hamas on October 7, 2023, in Israel,

marked the murder of Jews in numbers not seen since the Holocaust, and testimonies of sexual

violence, beheadings, burnings and other horrific acts perpetrated by Hamas have been emerging

as Israelis begin to process the trauma; and

     WHEREAS, According to Hillel International, since the terrorist attack on Israel by

Hamas on October 7, 2023, anti-Semitic incidents against Jewish students on college campuses

have reached alarmingly high rates, increasing by 700 percent over the same period last year; and

     WHEREAS, Institutions and community organizations have a responsibility to protect

citizens from acts of hate and bigotry; and

     WHEREAS, The White House has released the first ever comprehensive plan to counter

anti-Semitism in the United States, providing valuable tools to inform more accurate reporting,

investigation, and policymaking and increase understanding on the rise of anti-Semitism in the

country; and

     WHEREAS, The White House plan includes language indicating the impact of hate and

bigotry on all Americans: “Anti-Semitism threatens not only the Jewish community, but all

Americans. People who peddle these anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and fuel racial, ethnic, and

religious hatred against Jews also target other communities---including Black and Brown

Americans, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders; LGBTQI+ individuals;

Muslim Americans, women and girls; and so many others”; and

     WHEREAS, The State of Rhode Island is home to the United States’ oldest synagogue,

Touro Synagogue in Newport. In 1790, George Washington wrote a letter to the congregation in

Newport extolling the virtues of Rhode Island as a home for religious plurality that “gives bigotry

no sanction”; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island does

hereby proclaim a condemnation of anti-Semitism and strongly stands against hate, bias or

violence based on identity and remains committed to the principles of nondiscrimination and

human rights; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this House hereby condemns and rejects anti-Semitism and reaffirms

our community as a safe and affirming one for people of all religions and identities; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Honorable Governor of the State of Rhode

Island, Daniel J. McKee, the Honorable Attorney General of the State of Rhode Island, Peter

Neronha, and the Regional Director of the New England Anti-Defamation League,

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Rabbi Dr. Jonah Sternberg.

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