HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-003 - Condemning the Recent Rise of Antisemitic Violence and Harassment Targeting Jewish PeopleRESOLUTION NO.2022-003
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 1998 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 35 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-Jewish 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
Resolution No. 2022-003
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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 stands 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, as set forth above.
Section 3. As officials elected to represent all residents of the City of Santa Ana,
the Santa Ana City Council will make efforts to be active allies of the Jewish community,
and pledges 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 18th day of January, 2022.
I
Vicente 8armiento
Mayor
Resolution No. 2022-003
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APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Sonia R. Carvalho, City Attorney
By: io' �
p John M. Funk
Sr. Assistant City Attorney
AYES: Councilmembers Bacerra, Hernandez, Lopez Mendoza,
Phan, Penaloza Sarmiento (7)
NOES: Councilmembers None (0)
ABSTAIN: Councilmembers None (0)
NOT PRESENT: Councilmembers None (0)
CERTIFICATION OF ATTESTATION AND ORIGINALITY
I, DAISY GOMEZ, Clerk of the Council, do hereby attest to and certify the attached
Resolution No. 2022-003 to be the original resolution adopted by the City Council of the
City of Santa Ana January 18, 2022.
Date:
Daisy Gomez
Clerk of the Council
City of Santa Ana
Resolution No. 2022-003
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