REPUBLICAN STATE SENATORS UNVEIL ANTISEMITISM REPORT

Last year, the members of the New York State Senate Republican Antisemitism Working Group were tasked with developing recommendations to address the rise in antisemitic incidents in New York. Roundtable events were held in Rockland and Nassau Counties involving stakeholders in the community. “In the interest of working to protect my constituents and all Jewish people across New York State, I was proud to join with my colleagues in the Senate Republican Conference to form a working group to address the rise of anti-Semitism. I am disgusted by the recent increase of anti-Semitic hatred that we have seen in New York. I very proudly represent a district with a large population of Jewish constituents, and the idea that any citizen should feel threatened on the basis of their deeply held religious beliefs is sickening. Together with the other members of the working group, we have put forth necessary legislation that would ensure that our Jewish brothers and sisters no longer have to live in fear,” stated Senator Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, 9th Senate District. “This report is just the beginning of our attempt to address this hate-crime in meaningful, and thoughtful ways. If this report has proven anything it is that New York must do more to combat antisemitism. We all have a role to play. We must address higher educational institutions weeding out hate speech, the media reporting these crimes and our elected officials, in all levels of government, should put partisanship aside and pass laws to end this crime. It is essential that we do our part. Our fight starts today,” stated Senator Jack Martins, Chair of the Antisemitism Working Group. With the Senate and Assembly expected to vote on the New York State Budget, the working group is urging the adoption of five priority legislative initiatives in the enacted state budget: S.3275 (Griffo): places a definition of antisemitism within the state human rights law; provides that antisemitism that incites, causes or results in any act of violence, or injury to a person, or the damage to or destruction of real or personal property, shall be deemed to constitute a hate crime; S.7752 (Weber): prohibits students from receiving TAP if engaging in antisemitic behavior; S.7773 (Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick): creates the “Dismantling Student Antisemitism (DSA) Act” which implements antisemitism awareness and prevention sensitivity training in colleges with threat of loss of funding; S.8625 (Martins): enacts the “New York State Antisemitism Vandalism Act” which establishes the crime of vandalism of pro-Israel print and provides a class A misdemeanor for any individual who intentionally destroys, damages, removes any banner, poster, flyer or billboard which is located in a public space, where the intent or purpose of such banner, poster, flyer or billboard is to bring awareness for Israeli individuals who have been victims of a crime, or to positively support the country or citizens of Israel; and S.8774 (Oberacker): expands the prohibition of harassing conduct involving Nazi symbols The New York State Senate Republican Conference is committed to restoring public safety and protecting our Jewish brothers and sisters from hateful acts of violence. None of us should be living in fear. No individual should feel threatened or unsafe. These proposals and dedicated funding are imperative steps we can take to ensure the safety of our communities.