10 US states have in recent weeks advanced a proclamation or executive orders acknowledging International Holocaust Remembrance Day by officially recognizing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, JNS reported Thursday.
The states that issued proclamations include Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming and Nevada. Virginia plans on issuing an executive order in recent weeks, the report said.
They join the state of Texas, which became the first US state to adopt the IHRA definition last June.
The proclamations are a result of a joint advocacy effort by Christians United for Israel (CUFI), Jewish Federations of North American (JFNA), the American Jewish Committee and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
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 anti-Semitism relates to the ways criticism of Israel is expressed.
The IHRA definition has been adopted by a host of countries, including Albania, Australia, Canada, Germany, Britain, Austria, Romania, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, France, Cyprus and Argentina.