News Release: Jewish, Muslim Organizations Celebrate Failure of Legislation Threatening Free Expression to Move in Senate Committee

NEWS RELEASE

Jewish, Muslim Organizations Celebrate Failure of Legislation
Threatening Free Expression to Move in Senate Committee
Photos and videos from the hearing and rally and additional information at tinyurl.com/318NoIHRA 

Trenton, NJ – Jewish, Muslim, and other social justice organizations are celebrating the failure of S1292 and S2937 to be voted  out of the NJ Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee yesterday. Both bills incorporate the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Association definition of antisemitism, which treats criticism of the state as Israel as antisemitic, potentially threatening the ability of human rights groups to advocate for Palestinians.  Members of 20 organizations filled the hearing room,  phone banked to drive calls to committee members from constituents, and rallied outside the State House. With the Senate entering its budget process the failure of the bills to move today will significantly delay their forward motion if not kill them altogether for this year. Advocates intend to use the additional time to educate lawmakers on the threats these bills pose to First Amendment protected activities and to mobilize constituents to contact their legislators.

At the rally, activists held large banners  that read “Save Gaza” “Ceasefire Now, and “Stop Genocide” in order to indicate that they refused to allow the proposed legislation to have a chilling effect on their advocacy for Palestinians. They were joined by a box truck with large screens on the sides with messages including “Israel has killed 14,861 children in Gaza” and “tell NJ Senators to vote no on S2937.” Speakers included organizer Ateka Gunja, Selaedin Maksut of the Council on American Islamic Relations NJ,  David Letwin of Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Larry Hamm of People’s Organization for Progress; Imam Saffet Catovic of Muslims for American Progress, Dr. Patricia Campos-Medina of The Worker Institute and Latina Civic, holocaust and genocide studies expert Professor Raz Segal of Stockton University, and John Hsu of  Our Revolution Middlesex.

According to Asma Elhuni of American Muslims for Palestine NJ Chapter “At a time when Congress is debating providing additional military funding to Israel as it commits genocide in Gaza, the need for human rights advocates to be free to criticize Israel without having their expression classified as hate speech could not be clearer.”

“The absurd consequence of adopting the deeply flawed International Holocaust Remembrance Association definition of antisemitism is that the speech of  Jewish  Holocaust survivors and refugees and their descendants and the descendants of Holocaust victims could be classified as antisemitic if they forcefully advocate for Palestinian human rights,” added Adam Weissman of Jewish Voice for Peace Northern NJ, the great-grandson of a Holocaust victim. Survivors of the Holocaust like Warsaw Ghetto uprising leader Marek Edelman (1919-2009), who proclaimed that “to be a Jew means always being with the oppressed, never with the oppressors,” have long been among the most vociferous critics of the state of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinian people.

Sponsoring organizations of the rally included American Muslims for Democracy, American Muslims for Palestine NJ Chapter, Black Lives Matter NJ, Council on American Islamic Relations NJ, Ceasefire Now NJ, Central Jersey Democratic Socialists of America, Cosecha, ICNA Council for Social Justice, IfNotNow NJ,  Jewish Voice for Peace Northern and Central NJ chapters, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Muslim Community of New Jersey, Muslim Professional Group, NJ Muslim Voice for Progress, NJ 11th for Palestine, Palestinian American Community Center, Path to Victory, NJ Students for Justice in Palestine, and Voice of Humanity.

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