Chris Van Hollen: “I commend the Senate for its passage of our bipartisan resolution, S. Res. 437, condemning anti-Semitism, including any…”

“I commend the Senate for its passage of our bipartisan resolution, S. Res. 437, condemning anti-Semitism, including any anti-Semitic acts committed on university or college campuses. No one deserves to feel unsafe in their community or school or threatened because of their religion or ethnicity. On October 16, the FBI released their annual statistics on hate crimes, which stated that anti-Semitic hate crimes rose 25 percent from 2021 to 2022 and accounted for over half of all reported religiously based hate crimes. The onset of war between Israel and Hamas has further exacerbated these anti-Semitic threats and incidents targeting Jewish Americans and Jewish organizations here in the United States. As a member of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, I have an enduring and ongoing commitment to confront anti-Semitism wherever it rears its ugly head and to ensure we take all steps necessary to protect the Jewish community. As we consider the best ways to counter anti-Semitism, it is important that we consult a range of definitions and tools to understand this problem. The White House's National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism notes several of these tools, including the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance--IHRA--definition of anti-Semitism, as well as the Nexus Document and other efforts.…”