IHRA
The resolution highlighted incidents at the North Carolina university, such as the drawing of swastikas.
A total of 111 incidents were recorded at universities in the 2020-21 academic year—a rise of 59 percent from the previous school year.
The states that have already issued proclamations include Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming and Nevada with Virginia in the works.
“We have a responsibility to fight anti-Semitism with all the tools available to us,” said U.S. Congressional Israel Allies Caucus co-chair Chris Smith.
“The more you have alarming trends, the more you have people to face them,” said Professor Uriya Shavit. “While anti-Semitism is really bad and getting worse, I think it is really crucial to keep the picture balanced.”
Co-sponsored by Germany—and backed by the United States, Russia and many other countries—it affirms that the Holocaust “will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice.”
“Of all our projects in common with the Organization of American States, this is the most ambitious,” said Shimon Samuels, director for international relations for the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark said “every tool that is available to stamp out the scourge of hate speech and racism should be used before speech manifests into something more dangerous.”
Noah Shack, vice president at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, urged the Toronto District School Board to take “immediate, meaningful and reparative action to fix the rot of anti-Semitism, particularly with its Human Rights Office.”
The special envoy works with the minister of foreign affairs; the minister of Canadian heritage; and the minister of housing, and diversity and inclusion.
Polish officials welcome the move but stress that contrary to Israeli reports, the decision is independent of Polish policies on anti-Semitism.
“Brazilian diplomacy will seek to promote education and research on the Holocaust, as well as to improve national policies to combat anti-Semitism,” said the government.
