The Kansas legislature passed HCR 5030 this week, a resolution that recognizes the growing problem of anti-Semitism in the United States, as well as adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism as an important tool to combat it.
“We can’t fight what we can’t define,” said Gavriela Geller, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau, American Jewish Committee in Kansas. “The adoption of the definition is a crucial step towards combating rising Jew-hatred.”
According to AJC’s most recent State of Antisemitism in America report, 34% of Americans cannot define the word anti-Semitism. IHRA is considered the “gold standard” definition, and has already been adopted in more than 30 countries and in 23 states.
HCR 5030 passed unanimously in the Kansas Senate and House.
“We are grateful to our partners in the Kansas legislature for their leadership in addressing this issue,” said Geller. “The bipartisan support for this resolution was an important demonstration that anti-Semitism is not a partisan issue, but one that all Kansans can come together to fight.”
