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Open Letter to the New Jersey State Legislature: Vote No on Bogus International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) “Working Definition of Antisemitism“

Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, July 9, 2024

NJ Senate bills S1292 and S2937 have been voted out of committee and are now moving to the floor for a full vote. We the undersigned call on the Senate to vote NO.

Masquerading as anti-discrimination legislation, the bills’ real purpose is to embed in state law the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) “Working Definition of Antisemitism,” which falsely equates “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” with anti-Jewish bigotry.

We are not fooled by disingenuous assurances that these bills won’t infringe on constitutionally-protected freedom of expression. The IHRA definition is already being weaponized to smear those who speak out against over 76 years of Zionist settler colonialism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and brutality, including the current US-backed Israeli genocide, which may have already caused the death of at least 186,000 Palestinians in Gaza. Make no mistake: if enshrined in state law, IHRA will put our right to advocate for Palestinian liberation at grave risk.   

The Zionist establishment leading the assault on Palestine activism across the country, whether through IHRA, the violent suppression of campus protest, or anti-BDS legislation, is desperate to convince the world that Zionism and Jewish identity are the same.

We call on the Senate to reject this lie, once and for all. Resurgent antisemitism—driven by the pro-Zionist, Trumpist right—must not be used as a pretext to muzzle those who fight to undo the ongoing Nakba, and who demand justice for all inhabitants of historic Palestine, from the river to the sea. 

New Jersey legislators: Vote NO on S1292 and S2937.