Brandeis Center Applauds South Carolina Legislature Bill to Combat Anti-Semitism

From the Louis Brandeis Center press release:

Washington, D.C., March 9 – Kenneth L. Marcus, president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law made the following statement today commending the South Carolina House of Representatives for its overwhelming approval of H. 3643, a bill to combat rising campus anti-Semitism:

“Anti-Semitism is on the rise across our nation. In the past few weeks, many hateful acts have been committed against the Jewish community.  According to the FBI’s latest reporting, there were more incidents of anti-Semitism than all other religious hate crimes combined. And the situation is worst on college campuses where the threat to Jewish students is escalating at a rapid and frightening rate. 

“We applaud the South Carolina legislators for standing up against this growing anti-Jewish bigotry, and in a way that fully protects free speech on campus. We particularly commend Representative Alan Clemmons who authored this bill and has been a tremendous leader in protecting Jewish students and all students. We congratulate Representative Clemmons, his colleagues in the Israel Allies Caucus, and the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF) for their successful efforts to fight discrimination on campus.”

IAF also applauded this success. “This bill speaks directly to a critical public policy need in South Carolina and around the country. We are pleased to mobilize our educational and policy resources behind this legislative effort, along with our many partner organizations, and believe it is a necessary compliment to state laws that regulate against commercial manifestations of anti-Jewish bigotry,” stated Joseph Sabag, U.S. National Director of  IAF. “Representative Clemmons possesses a unique level of moral clarity, and is once again to be applauded for proving himself to be a historic champion in the fight against anti-Jewish bigotry.”

H. 3643 passed the House on Second Reading by a vote of 103 – 3 and received unanimous consent for a third reading tomorrow. After the third reading, it will move to the Senate for consideration.

Marcus is a renowned anti-Semitism expert, an award-winning author of two books, The Definition of Anti-Semitism (Oxford University Press: 2015) and Jewish Identity and Civil Rights in America (Cambridge University Press: 2010) and the associate editor of the Journal for the Study of Anti-Semitism.  He is the former staff director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, was delegated the authority of Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights and is the individual who drafted the policy by which the U.S. Department of Education investigates anti-Semitism claims.

Related Topics