The Arkansas Senate Education Committee held a hearing on Wednesday where a new bill — SB 352 — to address and prohibit antisemitic discrimination in the state’s public K-12 schools and institutions of higher education was presented, the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement reported.
By Rachel Avraham
The Arkansas Senate Education Committee held a hearing on Wednesday where a new bill — SB 352 — to address and prohibit antisemitic discrimination in the state’s public K-12 schools and institutions of higher education was presented, the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement reported. After the discussion, the bill was advanced with a majority voice vote, the report added.
According to the report, the legislation — sponsored by Senator Matt Stone and supported by Senator Ben Gilmore, with companion legislation in the Arkansas House of Representatives sponsored by Representative Howard Beaty — defines antisemitism using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, including its 11 contemporary examples.
According to the report, the IHRA antisemitism definition was already adopted by Arkansas in February 2023 via SB 118, passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. A total of 37 U.S. states have adopted the definition, according to a database compiled by the Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) by the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement.
The bill proclaimed, “A historic rise in antisemitic violence, harassment, and discrimination has occurred at kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) 32 schools across the United States, targeting Jewish students; (2) In April 2024, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation found that the number of Federal Bureau of Investigation investigations into antisemitic hate crimes tripled in the months after 36 October 7, 2023.”
According to the bill, “(3) According to a recent Gallup poll, eighty-one percent (81%) of Americans now see antisemitism as either a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem, up from fifty-seven percent (57%) two (2) decades ago; (4) Acts of antisemitism on kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) school campuses undermine the educational and social fabric of our educational institutions; and (5) Promoting understanding, tolerance, and respect for all students and school employees is imperative.”
The bill continues, “It is the intent of the General Assembly to require all kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) schools to address and prohibit antisemitic discrimination at kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) 12 schools in the same manner kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) schools would address and prohibit any other form of discrimination prohibited by law, including without limitation discrimination on the basis of race.”
CAM Senior Advisor Gabriel Groisman spoke before the committee and proclaimed, “There are only two ways to deal with an issue like antisemitism. We can either sit back and wait for it to happen in our communities or we can be active and try to squash it at the beginning. It’s clear that Arkansas has not been waiting, and I urge Arkansas not to wait. This is something that will send a message all across the country, that antisemitism and the scourge we’re seeing all over the country is not welcome here in Arkansas.”
According to the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement, Arkansas is not the only state to tackle anti-Semitism at the legislative level. According to the report, similar legislative initiatives have also been put forth in Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas in recent weeks.
