Antisemitism bill could advance in NC this year, top Republican says
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – One issue that North Carolina lawmakers could address during the upcoming session is the spike in antisemitism since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) said one of his goals is to pass legislation to “really crack down on antisemitism, to define that as a hate crime.”
In the first three months after Oct. 7, the Anti-Defamation League reported a 360% increase in antisemitic incidents in the United States.
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Moore pointed to a bill filed in the Senate last year by Republican Sen. Bobby Hanig that would define antisemitism in state law and provide protections against discrimination, including in employment and housing.
“But, the amount of crimes that are happening and increasing not just in North Carolina but across the country to folks of the Jewish faith, it’s something we need to deal with,” said Moore.
Rabbi Eric Solomon, of Beth Meyer Synagogue in Raleigh, said he thinks passing the bill would be an important step.
“There have been wholesale antisemitic attacks against the Jewish community, threats of violence. We’ve had bomb threats at my own synagogue here,” he said. “We know it’s a sliver of our society, but this sliver has been louder and more concerning.”
Rabbi Solomon said the state should go further than just addressing antisemitism. He’s backed efforts to pass a broader hate crime bill that would provide protections for a variety of people such as the LGBTQ community, Muslims and others.
“We know that all hatred is connected. Islamophobia, hatred of others, the LGBTQ community, people of color, this is all connected. So, we would like this to be universal,” he said. “I would like North Carolina to be the leader it has been and can be in having hate crime legislation that’s clear across the board.”
Sen. Jay Chaudhuri (D-Wake) has proposed hate crime legislation for the last few legislative sessions. A bill he filed last year would broaden the scope and punishment of hate crimes and require the state to collect data on these incidents to better inform law enforcement response and training.
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“We’ve seen a real increase in hate crimes since 2016. And, I hope there’s an opportunity to look at other ways to combat hate crimes for other groups,” said Chaudhuri. “We know this can be a bipartisan issue where people can come together.”
Sen. Chaudhuri also called on Republicans to denounce comments by Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the GOP candidate for governor, where he has downplayed Nazism and used Jewish stereotypes. Last year, Robinson denied being antisemitic and apologized “for the wording but not necessarily the content” of his social media posts.
During last year’s session neither the antisemitism bill nor Sen. Chaudhuri’s hate crime bill got a hearing.
It’s unclear if the Senate would take up the antisemitism bill this year. CBS 17 has reached out to Senate leader Phil Berger’s office to ask about that. Moore said if not, the House would pass its own version.
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