A bill to define antisemitism in Georgia law stalled in 2023 over how it should be worded. But a revised version won unanimous endorsement from a key Senate committee Monday, backed by Republican support for Israel in its war with Hamas and a surge in reported bias incidents against Jewish people in the state.
“I think the whole world saw what happened on Oct. 7 and the fallout to Jewish communities around the world,” said Democratic state Rep. Esther Panitch of Sandy Springs, the only Jewish member of Georgia’s legislature. She is a co-sponsor of the measure that won the support of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
But fears of opponents who say House Bill 30 would be used as a shield to block criticism of Israeli war crimes against Palestinians are stronger than ever, showing how what was already a fraught topic in early 2023 has become downright raw with the Israel-Hamas war. Some protesters chanting “Free Free Palestine!” were dragged from the committee room by police officers after the vote. Other opposition witnesses told lawmakers they were privileging political support for Israel.
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