Florida Senate - 2024                              CS for SB 148
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senators Berman, Pizzo, and
       Book
       
       
       
       
       590-02619-24                                           2024148c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to antisemitism; creating s. 1.015,
    3         F.S.; providing legislative intent; defining the term
    4         “antisemitism”; providing contemporary examples of
    5         antisemitism; providing construction; providing an
    6         effective date.
    7  
    8         WHEREAS, in 1998, Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson
    9  initiated the Task Force for International Cooperation on
   10  Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research, and
   11         WHEREAS, an international forum was held January 27-29,
   12  2000, and was attended by representatives of 46 governments,
   13  including 23 heads of state or prime ministers and 14 deputy
   14  prime ministers or ministers, and
   15         WHEREAS, the task force issued the Declaration of the
   16  Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust, also known as
   17  the Stockholm Declaration, and
   18         WHEREAS, the Stockholm Declaration is the founding document
   19  for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), the
   20  successor organization to the Task Force for International
   21  Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research,
   22  and
   23         WHEREAS, in 2016, the IHRA adopted a working definition of
   24  antisemitism to assist governments, organizations, and
   25  individuals in their efforts to identify antisemitism, and
   26         WHEREAS, as a part of this working definition, the IHRA
   27  included contemporary examples of antisemitism from around the
   28  globe, and
   29         WHEREAS, IHRA’s adoption of a working definition has
   30  empowered many governments, organizations, and individuals to
   31  identify and address the rise in hate and discrimination against
   32  Jewish individuals, NOW, THEREFORE,
   33  
   34  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   35  
   36         Section 1. Section 1.015, Florida Statutes, is created to
   37  read:
   38         1.015 Antisemitism.—
   39         (1) It is the intent of the Legislature to adopt the
   40  working definition developed by the International Holocaust
   41  Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) of the term “antisemitism” to assist
   42  in the monitoring and reporting of anti-Semitic hate crimes and
   43  discrimination and to make residents aware of and to combat such
   44  incidents in this state.
   45         (2) As adopted by the IHRA on May 26, 2016, and as used in
   46  these statutes, the term “antisemitism” means a certain
   47  perception of Jewish individuals which may be expressed as
   48  hatred toward such individuals. Rhetorical and physical
   49  manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish and
   50  non-Jewish individuals and their property and toward Jewish
   51  community institutions and religious facilities.
   52         (3) Contemporary examples of antisemitism include, but are
   53  not limited to, all of the following:
   54         (a) Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or
   55  harming of Jewish individuals.
   56         (b) Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or
   57  stereotypical allegations about Jewish individuals as such or
   58  the power of Jewish people as a collective, such as the myth of
   59  a worldwide Jewish conspiracy or of Jewish individuals
   60  controlling the media, economy, government, or other societal
   61  institutions.
   62         (c) Accusing Jewish people as a collective of being
   63  responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a
   64  single Jewish person or group or for acts committed by non
   65  Jewish individuals.
   66         (d) Denying the fact, scope, and mechanisms, such as gas
   67  chambers, or the intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish
   68  people at the hands of Nazi Germany and its supporters and
   69  accomplices during the Holocaust.
   70         (e) Accusing Jewish people as a collective, or Israel as a
   71  state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
   72         (f) Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel,
   73  or to the alleged priorities of Jewish individuals worldwide,
   74  than to the interests of their respective nations.
   75         (g) Denying Jewish people their right to self
   76  determination, such as claiming that the existence of a State of
   77  Israel is a racist endeavor.
   78         (h) Applying double standards by requiring of the Jewish
   79  state of Israel a standard of behavior not expected or demanded
   80  of any other democratic nation.
   81         (i) Using the symbols and images associated with classic
   82  antisemitism, such as blood libel, to characterize Israel or
   83  Israelis.
   84         (j) Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to
   85  that of the Nazis.
   86         (k) Holding Jewish individuals collectively responsible for
   87  actions of the state of Israel.
   88         (4) The term “antisemitism” does not include criticism of
   89  Israel that is similar to criticism of any other country.
   90         (5) This section may not be construed to diminish or
   91  infringe upon any right protected under the First Amendment to
   92  the United States Constitution or to conflict with federal or
   93  state antidiscrimination laws.
   94         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.