BILL NUMBER: HR 35 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Halderman and Bonnie
Lowenthal and Bonnie Lowenthal
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Beall,
Block, Blumenfield, Butler, Cook,
Fong, Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto,
Gordon, Hagman, Mansoor, Miller,
Monning, Portantino, and Williams)
AUGUST 6, 2012
Relative to anti-Semitism.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST
WHEREAS, The frequency and severity of incidents of contemporary
global anti-Semitism are increasing according to reports by
representatives from nations around the world, including the United
States Department of State in 2008, the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe in 2004, and the Inter-parliamentary
Coalition for Combating Antisemitism in 2009; and
WHEREAS, On July 20, 2009, the United States Senate unanimously
approved a resolution that unequivocally condemns all forms of
anti-Semitism and rejects attempts to rationalize anti-Jewish hatred
or attacks as a justifiable expression of disaffection or frustration
over political events in the Middle East or elsewhere, and decries
the comparison of Jews to Nazis perpetrating the Holocaust or
genocide as a pernicious form of anti-Semitism; and
WHEREAS, The United States Department of State, the United Kingdom'
s All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Anti-semitism
Antisemitism , and the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe have adopted or endorsed the European
Union Agency for Fundamental Rights' working definition of
anti-Semitism, which notes that in context certain language or
behavior demonizes and delegitimizes Israel or attacks Israel with
classic anti-Semitic stereotypes, such as denying the Jewish people
their right to self-determination, applying double standards by
requiring of Israel a behavior not expected or demanded of any other
democratic nation, drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli police
to that of the Nazis, and accusing the Jewish people, or Israel, of
inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust; and
WHEREAS, The United States Commission on Civil Rights reported in
2006 that anti-Semitism exists on some college campuses and is often
cloaked as criticism of Israel, and recommended that colleges and
universities ensure that students are protected from actions that
could create a hostile anti-Semitic environment; and
WHEREAS, Over the last decade some Jewish students on public
postsecondary education institution campuses in California have
experienced the following: (1) physical aggression, harassment, and
intimidation by members of student or community groups in
student-sponsored protests and rallies held on campus; (2) speakers,
films, and exhibits sponsored by student, faculty, and community
groups that engage in anti-Semitic discourse or use anti-Semitic
imagery and language to falsely describe Israel, Zionists, and Jews,
including that Israel is a racist, apartheid, or Nazi state, that
Israel is guilty of heinous crimes against humanity such as ethnic
cleansing and genocide, that the Jewish state should be destroyed,
that violence against Jews is justified, that Jews exaggerate the
Holocaust as a tool of Zionist propaganda, and that Jews in America
wield excessive power over American foreign policy; (3) swastikas and
other anti-Semitic graffiti in residential halls, public areas on
campus, and Hillel houses; (4) student- and faculty-sponsored
boycott, divestment, and sanction campaigns against Israel that are a
means of demonizing Israel and seek to harm the Jewish state; (5)
actions of student groups that encourage support for terrorist
organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah and openly advocate
terrorism against Israel and the Jewish people; and (6) suppression
and disruption of free speech that present Israel's point of view;
and
WHEREAS, California public postsecondary educational institutions
are admired throughout the world for their excellence and diversity,
and it is important that they provide continued leadership in the
fight against anti-Semitism; and
WHEREAS, While the response by California public postsecondary
educational institutions to incidents of hate and intimidation,
including anti-Semitism, with actions designed to make their campuses
safer and more inclusive of diverse students, faculty, and staff
have increased, the problem requires additional serious attention on
both a campuswide and systemwide basis; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature supports the actions already
taken by the President of Assembly commends the
initial actions taken by the University of California (UC)
and urges the leadership to continue to take action
to address anti-Semitism on its campuses while
staying within the constraints of the First Amendment to the United
States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature supports the following examples
of the UC leadership: such as: (1) refusal by
the UC Board of Regents and the President of UC to consider divesture
from companies doing business with Israel; (2) strengthening UC's
systemwide policies prohibiting student conduct motivated by bias,
including religious bias; (3) implementation of a campus climate
reporting system allowing any member of a UC campus community to
report incidents of intolerance or bias and development of a
comprehensive UC systemwide campus climate assessment; (4) the
formation of an Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture and
Inclusion whose members have conducted in-depth visits with Jewish
students and groups on UC campuses to better understand their
concerns and challenges and report back to the President of the UC;
and (5) immediate statements by UC leaders strongly condemning
specific acts of intolerance or bias when they occur; and
WHEREAS, The Assembly urges both the University of California and
the California State University to take additional actions to
confront anti-Semitism on its campuses, with due respect to the First
Amendment to the United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, While these actions are important steps, strong
leadership from the top remains an important priority so that no
administrator, faculty, or student group can be in any doubt that
anti-Semitic activity will not be tolerated in the classroom or on
campus, and that no public resources will be allowed to be used for
anti-Semitic or any intolerant agitation; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the
Legislature Assembly unequivocally
condemns all forms of intolerance, including anti-Semitism, on public
postsecondary educational institution campuses in California; and be
it further
Resolved, That the Legislature Assembly
recognizes recent actions by officials of public postsecondary
educational institutions in California and calls upon those
institutions to increase their efforts to swiftly and unequivocally
condemn acts of anti-Semitism on their campuses and to utilize
existing resources, such as the European Union Agency for Fundamental
Rights' working definition of anti-Semitism, to help guide campus
discussion about, and promote, as appropriate, educational programs
for combating anti-Semitism on their campuses; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.