Sponsored by:
Senator MICHAEL L. TESTA, JR.
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes New Jersey Anti-Semitism Task Force .
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing the New Jersey Anti-Semitism Task Force to conduct research and develop recommendations to address the harms caused by anti-Semitism, and supplementing chapter 16A of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares:
a. All Americans have a stake in fighting anti-Semitism, as all Americans have a stake in fighting every form of bigotry and hatred against people based on religion, race, or place of birth and origin.
b. Anti-Semitism is the centuries-old bigotry and form of racism faced by Jewish people simply because they are Jews.
c. Anti-Semitism includes blaming Jewish people when things go wrong, calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jewish people in the name of a radical ideology or extremist view of religion, or making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotyped allegations about Jewish people.
d. Jewish people are portrayed in the media and political campaigns with dangerous anti-Semitic myths, such as claims that Jewish people control the United States government or seek global, political, and financial domination.
e. Accusing Jewish people of being more loyal to Israel or to the Jewish community than to the United States constitutes anti-Semitism because it suggests that Jewish citizens cannot be patriotic Americans and trusted neighbors, when Jewish people have loyally served and continue to serve the United States, whether in public or community life or military service.
f. Scapegoating and targeting of Jewish people in the United States has persisted for many years, including by the Ku Klux Klan, the America First Committee, and modern neo-Nazis.
g. There is clear evidence of increasing incidents and expressions of anti-Semitism throughout the world.
h. A May 2014 survey by the Anti-Defamation League, The ADL Global 100: An Index of Anti-Semitism, which surveyed people in over 100 countries about their attitudes toward Jewish people, found that a majority of people surveyed overall have either not heard of the Holocaust or do not believe the Holocaust occurred.
i. On August 11 and 12, 2017, self-identified neo-Confederates, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and Ku Klux Klansmen held white supremacist events in Charlottesville, Virginia, where they marched on a synagogue under the Nazi swastika, engaged in racist and anti-Semitic demonstrations, and committed brutal and deadly violence against peaceful Americans.
j. In 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported a 37 percent increase in hate crimes against Jewish people or Jewish institutions and found that attacks against Jewish people or Jewish institutions made up 58.1 percent of all religious-based hate crimes.
k. A 2018 report from the Anti-Defamation League noted that in 2018 there were 1,879 anti-Semitic incidents against Jewish people and Jewish institutions.
l. On October 27, 2018, the perpetrator of the deadliest attack on Jewish people in the history of the United States killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and reportedly stated that he wanted all Jews to die .
m. New Jersey ranked third in the nation in anti-Semitic incidents in 2018, with 200 anti-Semitic incidents reported.
n. In New Jersey, Bergen, Middlesex, Ocean, and Union counties had the largest number of reported anti-Semitic incidents in 2018 at 36, 23, 21, and 19, respectively.
o. In 2019, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported an increase in hate crimes against Jewish people or Jewish institutions and found that attacks against Jewish people or Jewish institutions made up 60.3 percent of all religious-based hate crimes.
p. There is an urgent need to ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities, and synagogues, schools, cemeteries, and other institutions.
q. Anti-Semitism is a challenge to the basic principles of tolerance, pluralism, and democracy and the shared values that bind Americans together.
r. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution established the United States as a country committed to the principles of tolerance and religious freedom, and the Fourteenth Amendment established equal protection of the laws as the heart of justice in the United States.
s. Adherence to these principles is vital to the progress of the American people and the diverse communities and religious groups of the State of New Jersey.
t. Prejudice against Jewish people as a national, ethnic, religious, or racial group has no place in New Jersey or in the United States of America.
2. There is hereby established in the Department of State in the Executive Branch of the State Government a task force to be known as the New Jersey Anti-Semitism Task Force.
a. The task force shall be permanent and consist of 15 members as follows: