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Item # 27
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
January 18, 2022
TOPIC: Resolution Condemning Antisemitic Violence
AGENDA TITLE:
Resolution Condemning the Recent Rise in Antisemitic Violence and Harassment
Targeting Jewish People, and Standing in Solidarity with those Affected by Antisemitism
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Adopt a resolution condemning the recent rise in antisemitic violence and harassment
targeting Jewish people, and standing in solidarity with those affected by antisemitism.
DISCUSSION
Background
At the June 3, 2021 meeting, Councilmember Lopez added the following councilmember
requested item: Discuss and consider directing the City Manager to direct staff to prepare
a resolution condemning antisemitic violence. There was consensus among all members
of the City Council to proceed with the agenda item.
Antisemitism: Definitions
In 1998 the international Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) was founded in order
to unite governments and experts to strengthen, advance and promote Holocaust
education, research, and remembrance worldwide. The members of the IHRA approved
an authoritative definition of Antisemitism for use by governments and international
organizations worldwide. This definition reads as follows:
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as
hatred towards Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of
antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or
their property, toward Jewish and community institutions and religious
facilities.”
In the United States, this definition is used by various government and law enforcement
agencies in monitoring, training, and education, including the U.S. Department of State
and the U.S. Department of Education. Despite these efforts of training and education,
Resolution Condemning Antisemitic Violence
January 18, 2022
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antisemitism, including harassment on the basis of actual or perceived Jewish origin,
ancestry, ethnicity, identity, affiliation, and faith, remains a persistently disturbing problem
in society. Members of the Jewish community continue to be a targeted minority in the
United States and around the world, and are consistently the most likely of all religious
groups to be victims of hate crimes, with these crimes increasing at quite an alarming
rate.
Modern examples of antisemitic violence include the following:
Aiding or justifying violence against Jewish people in the name of radical
ideology or an extremist religious view.
Making dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jewish
people as such or the power of Jewish people as a collective - especially but not
exclusively, the myth about Jewish people controlling the media, economy,
government, and other social institutions.
Accusing Jewish people of being responsible for wrongdoings committed by a
single Jewish person or group, the state of Israel, and even for acts committed by
non-Jews.
Increase in Antisemitic Violence
There has been an increase in the number and intensity of antisemitic incidents in the
United States and around the world, as evidenced by the following: (1) studies by the
Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, finding that violent
antisemitic attacks worldwide rose 18 percent in 2019 and shifted online in 2020 during
the COVID–19 pandemic, which resulted in antisemitic conspiracy theories related to the
pandemic proliferating; and (2) hate crime statistics collected by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, demonstrating a 14 percent increase in antisemitic hate crimes in the United
States in 2019 and that Jewish Americans were the target of 60.2 percent of all religiously
motivated hate crimes in 2019, despite accounting for two percent of the population of the
United States.
Resolution
Attached for consideration by the City Council is a resolution (Exhibit 1) condemning the
recent rise in antisemitic violence and harassment targeting Jewish people, adopting the
non-legally binding International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of
Antisemitism, and pledging to be active allies of the Jewish community.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
There is no environmental impact associated with this action.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
EXHIBIT(S)
Resolution Condemning Antisemitic Violence
January 18, 2022
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1. Resolution
Submitted By: Kristine Ridge, City Manager
Approved By: Kristine Ridge, City Manager
RESOLUTION NO. 2022-XXX
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SANTA ANA CONDEMNING THE RECENT RISE IN
ANTISEMITIC VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT
TARGETING JEWISH PEOPLE, AND STANDING IN
SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE AFFECTED BY
ANTISEMITISM
WHEREAS, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) is an
intergovernmental organization founded in 998 which unites governments and experts to
strengthen, advance and promote Holocaust education, research, and remembrance
worldwide to uphold the commitments of the Declaration of the Stockholm International
Forum on the Holocaust, and the IHRA has 34 member countries; and
WHEREAS, by a consensus vote by the members of the IHRA, an internationally
recognized Working Definition of Antisemitism for use by governments and international
organizations was adopted. That definition reads in full as follows:
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed
as hatred towards Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of
antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewsish individuals
and/or their property, toward Jewish and community institutions and
religious facilities.”
WHEREAS, in the United States, the IHRA Working Definition is utilized by various
governments and law enforcement agencies in monitoring, training, and education,
including the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education; and
WHEREAS, antisemitism, including harassment on the basis of actual or perceived
Jewish origin, ancestry, ethnicity, identity, affiliation, or faith, remains a persistent,
persuasive, and disturbing problem in society; and
WHEREAS, Jewish people continue to be a targeted minority in the United States
and around the world, and are consistently the most likely of all religious groups to be
victimized by incidents of hate, and such incidents are increasing at an alarming rate; and
WHEREAS, criminal acts are antisemitic when the target of the attacks are against
the Jewish people or their property or where the attacks are selected because they are
perceived to be linked to Jewish peoples; and
WHEREAS, contemporary examples of antisemitic violence may include the
following: (1) calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jewish people (often
in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion; (2) making mendacious,
dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jewish people as such or
the power of Jewish people as a collective - especially but not exclusively, the myth about
a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jewish people controlling the media, economy,
government or other societal institutions; and (3) accusing Jewish people as a people of
being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person
or group, the state of Israel, or even for acts committed by non-Jewish people.
WHEREAS, Jewish houses of worship are increasingly targets of violent attacks
in the United States, as evidenced by the deadly assaults on synagogues in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania in 2018 and Poway, California in 2019; and
WHEREAS, such antisemitic incidents are part of a broader increase in the number
and intensity of antisemitic incidents in the United States and around the world, as
evidenced by studies by the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European
Jewry and hate crime statistics collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and
WHEREAS, government institutions have a responsibility to protect all of its
residents from acts of hate and bigotry, including antisemitism.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Santa
Ana as follows:
Section 1. The Santa Ana City Council condemns the recent rise in antisemitic violence
and harassment targeting Jewish people, and standing in solidarity with those affected by
antisemitism.
Section 2. The Santa Ana City Council hereby adopts the non-legally binding
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of
Antisemitism.
Section 3. As officials elected to represent all residents of the City of Santa Ana, efforts
will be made to be active allies of the Jewish community and pledge to actively seek open
lines of communication with the leaders of the organized Jewish community on issues
pertaining to their constituency.
Section 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by City Council
and the Clerk of Council shall attest to and certify the vote adopting this resolution.
ADOPTED this day of January, 2021.
Vicente
Sarmiento
Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Sonia R. Carvalho, City Attorney
By:
AYES: Councilmembers
NOES: Councilmembers
ABSTAIN: Councilmembers
NOT PRESENT: Councilmembers _
CERTIFICATION OF ATTESTATION AND
ORIGINALITY
I, DAISY GOMEZ, Clerk of the Council, do hereby attest to and certify the attached
Resolution No. 2022-XXX to be the original resolution adopted by the City Council of
the City of Santa Ana on .
Date:
Clerk of the
Council
City of Santa Ana