Tennessee House Bill 2673, amending Tennessee Code relative to antisemitism in education, was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee (R) on Wednesday. The groundbreaking legislation describes anti-Israel statements as demonstrating antisemitic bias by teachers in the classroom, from kindergarten through twelfth grade, as well as in institutions of higher learning.
HB 2673 provides educators in the state of Tennessee with a uniform definition of antisemitism, helping state authorities and law enforcement agencies determine when antisemitic bias is present when investigating complaints of antisemitism. To that end, this groundbreaking law adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism which includes the delegitimizing or demonizing of the State of Israel, including applying double standards to discussions of Israel.
The IHRA definition also addresses the antisemitic nature of attacks against Jewish individuals or institutions that attribute to all the Jews collective guilt for real or perceived actions by Israel.
Tennessee is the fifth state to enact legislation using the IHRA definition of antisemitism. It followed Florida, Iowa, South Carolina, and Arizona. The IHRA definition has also been endorsed through proclamations and resolutions in Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Missing from the list are some states with the largest Jewish population such as New York, California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.
