Georgia House votes to define antisemitism in state law

The Georgia House voted Monday to define antisemitism in state law, a move supporters say would help prosecutors and other officials identify hate crimes and illegal discrimination targeting Jewish people.

Lawmakers voted 136-22 to approve the measure just a few weeks after some residents in suburban Atlanta found anti-Jewish flyers left in their driveways inside plastic bags. Among them was Democratic Rep. Esther Panitch, one of the bill’s sponsors and Georgia’s only Jewish legislator.

“Children who went out to play on their driveway picked up baggies filled with hate and asked their parents, `What is this?'” Panitch said, adding, “A bill of this type should be uncontested. It gives our legal system a clear definition of antisemitism.”