ATLANTA — A bill to combat antisemitism faltered in the Georgia Senate this week as Jewish people have recently been targeted by flyers thrown onto metro Atlanta driveways and by shootings elsewhere in the country.
State senators decided against moving forward with the bill because of disagreements over how to define antisemitism and concerns about freedom of speech. Little time is left to revive the proposal before this year’s legislative session ends March 29.
The bill defines antisemitism so that it would be included under Georgia’s hate crimes law, which allows harsher criminal penalties against those who target victims on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, sex, national origin, religion, or physical or mental disability. House Bill 30 would add antisemitism as evidence of discriminatory intent under the hate crimes law.
