READ: House resolution condemning anti-Semitism

Read the full resolution below:

RESOLUTION

Rejecting anti-Semitism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States.

Whereas anti-Semitism is the bigotry faced by Jewish people simply because they are Jews;

Whereas anti-Semitism entails prejudicial attitudes or discriminatory acts toward people who are Jewish on the basis of their identity;

Whereas in 2010 the Department of State adopted the ''working definition'' of anti-Semitism promulgated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance;

Whereas the definition includes ''a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews'', including blaming Jews when things go wrong, calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or extremist view of religion, or making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews;

Whereas Jewish people are subject to numerous other dangerous anti-Semitic myths as well, including that Jews control the banks, media, and the United States Government or seek world domination and that Jews are obsessed with money;

Whereas the definition further includes ''accusing Jewish citi-zens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations'';

Whereas the myth of dual loyalty, including allegations that Jews should be suspected of being disloyal neighbors or citizens, has been used to marginalize and persecute the Jewish people for centuries for being a stateless minority;

Whereas accusing Jews of dual loyalty because they support Israel, whether out of a religious connection, a commitment to Jewish self-determination after millennia of persecution, or an appreciation for shared values and interests, suggests that Jews cannot be patriotic Americans and trusted neighbors, when Jews have served our Nation since its founding, whether in public life or military service;

Whereas accusations of dual loyalty generally have an insidious, bigoted history, including—

1. the discriminatory internment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II on the basis of race;
2. the Dreyfuss affair; when Alfred Dreyfuss, a Jewish French artillery captain was falsely convicted of passing secrets to Germany based on his Jewish background;
3. when the loyalty of President John F. Kennedy was questioned because of his Catholic faith; and
4. the post-9/11 conditions faced by Muslim-Americans in the United States, including unfounded, vicious attacks on and threats to Muslim-American Members of Congress; and

Whereas scapegoating and targeting of Jews in the United States has persisted for many years, including the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish man falsely accused of rape and murder, Henry Ford writing that there was a ''Jewish plan to control the world, not by territorial ac-quisition, not by military aggression, not by governmental subjugation, but by control of the machinery of commerce and exchange'', the America First Committee, and the rise of neo-Nazism;

Whereas in 2017 the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported a 37 percent increase in hate crimes against Jews or Jewish institutions and found that attacks against Jews or Jewish institutions made up 58.1 percent of all religious-based hate crimes;

Whereas on October 27, 2018, the perpetrator of the deadliest attack on Jewish people in the United States at the Tree of Life Synagogue building in Pittsburgh that killed 11 worshippers, reportedly stated that he ''wanted all Jews to die'';

Whereas Jews are the targets of anti-Semitic violence at even higher rates in many other countries than they are in the United States;

Whereas all Americans, including Jews, Muslims, and Chris-tians and people of all faiths and no faith, have a stake in fighting anti-Semitism, as all Americans have a stake in fighting all bigotry and hatred against religions, races, or places of origin;

Whereas there is an urgent need to ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities, including synagogues, schools, cemeteries, and other institutions; and

Whereas on February 14, 2019, the House of Representatives adopted House Joint Resolution 37 stating that anti-Semitism is a challenge to the basic principles of tolerance, pluralism, and democracy, and the shared values that bind Americans together: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

2 (1) acknowledges the dangerous consequences

3 of perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes; and

4 (2) rejects anti-Semitism as hateful expressions

5 of intolerance that are contradictory to the values

6 that define the people of the United States.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty and Ashley Killough contributed to this report.

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