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Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign campus anti-Semitism bill, possibly on trip to Israel

Campus Reform

Adam Sabes

5/15/2019



Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has indicated that he will sign a bill aimed at combating anti-Semitism in public education, and it could occur during his planned trip to Israel later in the month.


DeSantis made this statement during a trip in Miami Gardens, Fla. The bill would bar discrimination on the basis of religion in the Florida public education system, including at state-funded institutions of higher education, and specifically hone in on anti-Semitism.


ā€œWe have an anti-Semitism bill, which is one of the strongest in the nation, that I’ll sign into law, actually I think I will sign it into law when we’re in Jerusalem doing a Cabinet meeting,ā€ the governor said, according to the Orlando Weekly. He plans to be in Israel during the week of May 25-31.


House Bill 741 cruised through the Florida House and Senate, receiving unanimous votes of approval from both bodies.


The bill, if signed by DeSantis, would make religion a protected class. HB 741 highlights anti-Semitism, calling upon schools to treat such discrimination ā€œby students or employees or resulting from institutional policies motivated by anti-Semitic intent in an identical manner to discrimination motivated by race.ā€


The bill lists defines examples of anti-Semitism, including:


  • ā€œCalling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews, often in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.ā€

  • ā€œMaking mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as a collective, especially, but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.ā€

  • ā€œAccusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, the State of Israel, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.ā€

  • ā€œAccusing Jews as a people or the State of Israel of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.ā€

  • ā€œAccusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interest of their own nations.ā€


HB 741 also qualifies anti-Semitism pertaining to Israel, giving the examples of ā€œapplying a double standard to Israel by requiring behavior of Israel that is not expected or demanded of any other democratic nationā€ and ā€œdelegitimizing Israel by denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination and denying Israel the right to exist.ā€


The bill does acknowledge that criticism of Israel ā€œthat is similar to criticism toward any other country may not be regarded as anti-Semitic.ā€


Ed Rosenthal, the executive director and campus rabbi for the University of South Florida, told Campus Reform that he is supportive of the anti-Semitism bill, and says it deals with an ongoing problem in the U.S.


ā€œIronically, Jews are one of the smallest minority groups in the world yet, when it comes to discrimination and prejudice, we seem to get overlooked,ā€ Rosenthal said.


Rosenthal says that anti-Semitism is referred to as the ā€œoldest hatred,ā€ and believes this bill is a step in the right direction in terms of stopping it.


The USF Hillel campus rabbi has a message for state leaders and educators in Florida on how to stop anti-Semitism: ā€œobserve the law.ā€


Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs, an international Israel education organization, told Campus Reform that her group supports this legislation, stating that it is needed because of the ā€œalarming uptick of anti-Semitism.ā€


Rothstein says that using the bill will help school officials recognize anti-Semitism and protect students in schools.


ā€œThe first step to defeating a problem is to recognize and define it,ā€ Rothstein told Campus Reform. ā€œUsing a clear and consistent definition will help administrators and law enforcement protect students.ā€


The StandWithUs CEO claimed that this particular legislation does not violate ā€œany First Amendment rights,ā€ noting that ā€œit addresses only unprotected conduct such as vandalism and harassment.ā€


Read the articlce here.

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