Rep. Ron Tusler, a Republican representing part of the Fox Valley area, has been asking others in the state Assembly to support a bill to define antisemitism.
It’s expected the bill will soon be sent to a committee for consideration, Tusler told the Chronicle.
The definition, favored by Milwaukee Jewish Federation and other Jewish organizations, is by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. The Alliance definition does not limit free speech, but it guides the evaluation of discriminatory intent, according to the Federation.
The idea for the bill came from Tusler’s discussions with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Shale Horowitz, Tusler’s professor in college who informed him of “just how bad the encampment situation was” at the university, according to Tusler.
“No one should ever be persecuted for their religious beliefs, not Jews, not Christians, not Sikhs, not Muslims, not anybody. It just can’t happen in this country,” Tusler said. “You know, there’s something special about America, as in, a lot of the folks that initially came here for religious freedom, and that isn’t common everywhere.”
The Alliance definition specifies manifestations of antisemitism, such as justifying the harming of Jews “in the name of a radical ideology” and accusing the Jewish people for a single Jew’s actions, according to the Alliance website.
The bill would ensure that state agencies and both state and local government employees consider the Alliance definition when evaluating evidence of discrimination, according to a Legislative Reference Bureau review of the bill.
Tusler expects the definition will be used at the collegiate level, in addition to being considered in juries. “By giving a definition to universities, if they’ve got a situation that may or may not be antisemitic, they’ll at least have a baseline that was created before the event occurred that they can now apply,” Tusler said.
The bill comes in light of a 459% increase in antisemitism since 2015, according to the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. Tusler, representative of the third assembly district, took on gathering sponsors and bipartisan support for the bill as the assembly lead. He said he is actively seeking both Democrat and Republican support in the Legislature.
As of August 2024, 35 states and the District of Columbia have implemented or recognized the Alliance definition, according to the American Jewish Council.
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