
The North Carolina House passed a bill making the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism the state’s guidelines in assessing hate crimes, JNS reported.
The bill, known as the “Shalom Act,” passed a 105-4 vote on May 8, according to the report.
The legislation’s sponsor, House Speaker Tim Moore, said in a statement following the vote, “I am encouraged by the bipartisan support the bill received today in the House.”
During a press conference before the vote, Moore said, “While I believe roughly 2% of our population is Jewish, we have seen an inordinate amount of antisemitism—behavior, attacks, vandalism, you name it, physical assaults—and enough is enough.”
After an affirmative vote in the state Senate, the bill will require the signature of Gov. Roy Cooper.
Several US states have already approved bills which use the IHRA definition to define antisemitism in state law.
The IHRA working definition offers a comprehensive description of antisemitism in its various forms, including hatred and discrimination against Jews, Holocaust denial and, sometimes controversially, the way antisemitism relates to the ways criticism of Israel is expressed.
In February, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a law defining antisemitism in state law. South Dakota enacted a similar law a month later.
More than half the states in the US have adopted or endorsed the IHRA definition, plus the District of Columbia, either as legislation or as an educational standard.