Georgia bill on antisemitism lives again after new vote

A new Senate committee has given new life to a bill that would formally define antisemitism in Georgia law.

The Senate Children and Families Committee voted 6-2 on Thursday to insert language that had previously been in a different bill into House Bill 144. The effort had faltered Monday after the previous bill was amended in a way that sponsors opposed, after running disputes over whether it would be used to censor criticism of Israel.

The bill would adopt a definition by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which defines antisemitism as a “perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews” and can have both “rhetorical and physical manifestations.”