Virginia’s top prosecutor published educational guidance for the state’s schools this week about Jew-hatred.
“Antisemitism is the world’s oldest form of bigotry. Despite making up only 2.4% of the population, Jewish-Americans were the target of 56% of all religiously motivated hate crimes in the United States before the Oct. 7 massacre,” stated Jason Miyares, the commonwealth’s attorney general. “In the three months following Oct. 7, that number spiked to 75%.”
The guidance is part of Virginia Rules, a program through which Miyares’s office educates students, parents, teachers and communities about relevant legal issues.
The state’s new Attorney General’s Antisemitism Task Force created the lesson plan, which uses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of Jew-hatred. The Virginia legislature adopted that widely used definition in 2023 as the basis for a portion of its guidance.
“The Virginia Rules lesson is a unique and first-of-its-kind approach toward recognizing and addressing antisemitism locally, completed by a coalition of Jewish community leaders, law enforcement personnel and experts,” Shaun Kenney, senior adviser and spokesman to Miyares, told JNS.
“It is a confident first step towards addressing what is a re-emerging and longstanding prejudice,” he said.
The lesson lays out how Virginia laws on discrimination and hate crimes protect the commonwealth’s Jewish residents and introduces students to Jewish religion, culture and history.
It also addresses Jewish identity, the definition of antisemitism and examples of Jew-hatred and educates about harassment, discrimination and hate crimes that students may witness or experience and how they can respond.
“Like all Americans, Jewish Americans deserve to be treated as individuals who contribute their rich traditions and efforts to the American fabric, not defined by the evil that opposes them,” Miyares’s office stated.
“By being vigilant today and teaching our youth, we help ensure that future generations keep the promise to never let antisemitism take root in the land of Thomas Jefferson,” it added.
