A contentious public hearing on Jan. 22 over House Bill 30 ended with an arrest after the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the bill that would codify a definition of antisemitism into Georgia State Law.
The committee set aside thirty minutes for testimony from those supportive of and against the bill, which stalled in 2023 after concerns about the definition’s wording. The bill follows the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s wording, which has been adopted by the United States and several state governments.
After the unanimous vote, supporters of the bill gave a standing ovation and opponents chanted, “Free, free Palestine.” The Georgia State Patrol said one opponent “stood from his seat and began approaching the sitting senators while screaming and shaking his clenched fist in the air.”
According to a spokesperson for the Georgia State Patrol the man resisted when they attempted to escort him out, so officers on scene physically restrained him. Officers then took the individual outside the building and placed him in a police car, arresting him for “Disrupting or Preventing General Assembly Meeting and Obstruction of a Law Enforcement Officer.”
The contentious HB 30 hearing centered around the language of the IHRA definition, which establishes a definition of antisemitism via several examples and parameters. Notably, it states that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”
The definition does say that some “manifestations” of criticism towards Israel can be antisemitic, such as “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” Other manifestations are not described.
Sponsors of the bill say it will help identify hate crimes and discrimination by outlining antisemitism under a unique definition rather than identifying hate crimes against Jewish people under religion as laid out in Georgia’s Hate Crime Law.
The Georgia House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill in 2023 in the wake of several antisemitic flyer incidents, where anti-Jewish posters were left in driveways in Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, Brookhaven, Roswell and Milton. Among the people impacted was Georgia’s only Jewish legislator and sponsor of HB 30, Representative Esther Panitch.
The bill does not directly write the definition into state law, though, instead referencing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s “working definition.” Sponsors said the bill does not impact free speech, including criticisms of Israel.
Opponents of the bill testified at the Jan. 22 hearing with concerns that it could create a “chilling effect” on political discourse and protected speech.
Sarah Hunt-Blackwell, the First Amendment Policy Advocate for American Civil Liberties Union Georgia, said codifying the alliance’s definition will not keep people from “drawing swastikas or making disgusting statements about Jews,” but it will restrict political discourse.
“A government may not over-criminalize political expression, no matter how polarizing a position may be,” Hunt-Blackwell said.
Other opponents of the bill stressed that they supported a codified definition of antisemitism, just not the IHRA’s version.
“As written, the bill is so broad that, as [Hunt-Blackwell] described it impedes protected free speech,” Megan Gordon, American Islamic Relations Georgia policy manager said.
Several Jewish Georgians also testified against the bill to criticize its “failure to distinguish” between antisemitism and criticism of Israel, with some saying their criticism of Israel does not make them “self-hating Jews.”
Georgia Representative John Carson named one “group you might hear from” on Jan. 22 as a group listed as an antisemitic hate group by the Anti-Defamation League, likely a reference to the Georgia chapter of the anti-Zionist organization Jewish Voices for Peace. The Anti-Defamation League is a Jewish and pro-Israel organization that specializes in combatting antisemitism. It includes anti-Zionism, an opposition to Israel, as antisemitism in its labeling of hate groups.
Those in favor of the bill referenced recent antisemitic incidents across Georgia in testimony. Rabbi Larry Sernovitz, the CEO of college organization Hillels of Georgia, referenced an Oct. 20 incident at the University of Georgia where a freshman was physically and verbally assaulted. Sernovitz said the assaulter called him a “stupid Israel f***.” The student is not Israeli.
Eric Robbins, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, said he “appreciates” the Jewish people who spoke against the bill, but they represent “a very small group.” He claimed the majority of Georgia’s Jewish community supports the bill.
“This is the gold standard against antisemitism, and we’re in complete support of it,” Robbins said.
Some speakers directly referenced Israel in testimonies supporting the bill, like Executive Director of the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust Sally Levine. She said alongside Holocaust denial and dehumanizing comments, attacking “all Jews” for Israel’s policies is a form of antisemitism, as is “Holding the state of Israel to a different standard than other countries.”
“Antisemitism cannot be allowed to thrive when it grows unchallenged,” Levine said.
