Georgia Antisemitism Bill passes ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day causing celebration, protest

Jan. 27 was the 79th International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a date that marks the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp at Aushwitz. Georgia Jewish Community leaders say House Bill 30’s passing in the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate just two days earlier couldn’t have come at a better time.

International Holocaust Remembrance day is very significant for former State Representative Mike Wilensky.

"Forty-two members of my family died in the holocaust. And it wasn't that long ago," he said.

Wilensky filed the original Antisemitism bill, H.B. 30, in the Georgia legislature in 2022, where it got stalled in the state senate.

The same thing happened during the 2023 legislative session.

He says the rise in antisemitic attacks and threats since Hamas’ attack in Israel and the subsequent rise in antisemitism in the U.S. has heightened fears in Atlanta’s Jewish community.

An unwanted pamphlet expressing anti-Jewish rhetoric lays on the street of Sandy Springs subdivision in this undated photo. (FOX 5)

"Due to Oct. 7, my kids go to a Jewish school and we’re seeing armed guards there now," Wilensky said.

Wilensky says seeing H.B. 30 pass just a couple of days before this day of remembrance is really special.

"Tears of joy, really excited. I have two daughters. They're ten and eight years old, and I know this will protect them and all the other students and Jewish people in Georgia," he said.

But, not everyone is celebrating the passage of H.B. 30.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in the rain outside the State Capitol Saturday to protest the bill’s passage.

Some had real fears about H.B. 30 being used to target them for their criticism of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza.

"You have to respect our freedom of speech," said Demonstrator Jawahir Kamil. "You have the right to say ‘I love Israel’ or ‘I love Zionism,’ But you have no right to enforce that on me."

They worry H.B. 30 will brand their demonstrations as antisemitism.

"That it could cause unnecessary harm to people who are exercising their right to free speech, confusing political speech with hate speech," said demonstrator Debanjana Bhattacharya.

But Matthew Weiss, Legislative Affairs Chair for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta, says that’s not what the bill was intended for.

"Because certainly, merely criticizing the government of Israel like any other country is not antisemitic," Weiss said.

Wilensky also pointed to this language in H.B. 30: "Nothing in this code section shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon any right protected under the first amendment."