I met Sally Harrell in 2018 when she was running for the Georgia Senate. My wife and I made small contributions to two of her campaigns. Senator Harrell and I have become friends and we served together on the DeKalb County Charter Review Commission.
I was deeply disappointed when Senator Harrell excused herself from the vote on HB-30, the bill that defined antisemitism in Georgia law. Since we were friends, I reached out to talk with her about her decision to be absent during the vote. We talked for well over an hour.
I explained why I was concerned, and she listened. She explained what her hesitations were, and I listened. I shared data on antisemitism; she shared sources she had read that raised questions about using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition to trigger state anti-discrimination laws.
The bottom line: Her arguments, and those made by the sources she shared with me, are compelling.
Many mainstream U.S. Jewish organizations have expressed concerns about using the IHRA definition as defined in HB-30. These include the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), The Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Congress, the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the National Council of Jewish Women, and the Rabbinical Assembly.
Here is a joint statement from CCAR and URJ in 2021 (emphasis added):
We support using the [IHRA] working definition to build awareness and train law enforcement, educators, and other leaders. The IHRA definition and its examples are informative. Using the definition itself to trigger federal or state anti-discrimination laws, though, could be abused to punish Constitutionally protected, if objectionable, speech. The examples also provide context to distinguish protected speech – including disagreement and even harsh criticism of the government of Israel – from unlawful, harassing, intimidating, and discriminatory anti-Semitism.
Here is the position statement from the National Council of Jewish Women:
NCJW supports the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition in full as a unified definition across countries and organizations, to be used as an educational tool only. We do not recommend this be codified into law or used to prohibit freedom of speech in any way.
Here is the statement from the Anti-Defamation League:
ADL does not support the adoption and application of the IHRA Definition in a manner that would create new categories of legally prohibited speech that are subjected to either civil or criminal penalties. ADL believes that aggressive and inappropriate applications of the IHRA Definition in such a manner could have the unintended consequence of undermining efforts to engage and educate on antisemitism and to build alliances to fight antisemitism and all forms of hate.
I do not believe that HB-30 will be abused or chill speech critical of Israel and I still support passage, but I applaud Senator Harrell for doing her homework, struggling with the issue, and following her conscience. She has convinced me that she is deeply committed to supporting the Jewish community and fighting antisemitism. I am proud to call her a friend and I am grateful for her service to our community.