Title: Combating European Anti-Semitism Act of 2017
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Combating European Anti-Semitism Act of 2017
This bill requires the Department of State to include in its Annual Report on International Religious Freedom information about each European country where there have been particularly significant threats or attacks against Jewish persons or institutions. The report shall include information about the security needs of such Jewish communities, U.S. efforts to partner with European law enforcement agencies and civil society groups, European public awareness initiatives to promote pluralism and tolerance, and efforts by European governments to adopt and apply a working definition of anti-Semitism.


[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 672 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 672

 To require continued and enhanced annual reporting to Congress in the 
   Annual Report on International Religious Freedom on anti-Semitic 
    incidents in Europe, the safety and security of European Jewish 
   communities, and the efforts of the United States to partner with 
European governments, the European Union, and civil society groups, to 
             combat anti-Semitism, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 24, 2017

Mrs. Lowey (for herself, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Roskam, Mr. 
    Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Engel, and Ms. Granger) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require continued and enhanced annual reporting to Congress in the 
   Annual Report on International Religious Freedom on anti-Semitic 
    incidents in Europe, the safety and security of European Jewish 
   communities, and the efforts of the United States to partner with 
European governments, the European Union, and civil society groups, to 
             combat anti-Semitism, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Combating European Anti-Semitism Act 
of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) During the past decade, there has been a steady 
        increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Europe, resulting in 
        European Jews being the targets of physical and verbal 
        harassment and even lethal terrorist attacks, all of which has 
        eroded personal and communal security and the quality of daily 
        Jewish life.
            (2) According to reporting by the European Union Agency for 
        Fundamental Rights (FRA), between 2005 and 2014, anti-Semitic 
        incidents increased in France from 508 to 851; in Germany from 
        60 to 173; in Belgium from 58 to 130; in Italy from 49 to 86; 
        and in the United Kingdom from 459 to 1,168.
            (3) Anti-Zionism has at times devolved into anti-Semitic 
        attacks, prompting condemnation from many European leaders, 
        including French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, British Prime 
        Minister David Cameron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
            (4) Since 2010, the Department of State has adhered to the 
        working definition of Anti-Semitism by the European Monitoring 
        Center on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC). Some contemporary 
        examples of anti-Semitism include the following:
                    (A) Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing 
                or harming of Jews (often in the name of a radical 
                ideology or an extremist view of religion).
                    (B) Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or 
                stereotypical allegations about Jews as such, or the 
                power of Jews as a collective, especially, but not 
                exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy 
                or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government, 
                or other societal institutions.
                    (C) Accusing Jews 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-Jews.
                    (D) Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a 
                state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
                    (E) Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to 
                Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, 
                than to the interest of their own countries.
            (5) On October 16, 2004, the President signed into law the 
        Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004. This law provides the 
        legal foundation for a reporting requirement provided by the 
        Department of State annually on anti-Semitism around the world.
            (6) In November 2015, the House of Representatives passed 
        H. Res. 354 by a vote of 418-0, urging the Secretary of State 
        to continue robust United States reporting on anti-Semitism by 
        the Department of State and the Special Envoy to Combat and 
        Monitor Anti-Semitism.
            (7) In 2016, the International Holocaust Remembrance 
        Alliance (IHRA), comprised of 31 member countries, adopted a 
        working definition of anti-Semitism which stated: ``Anti-
        Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be 
        expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical 
        manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or 
        non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish 
        community institutions and religious facilities.''.
            (8) The IHRA further clarified that manifestations of anti-
        Semitism might also target the State of Israel, conceived of as 
        a Jewish collectivity. Anti-Semitism frequently charges Jews 
        with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame 
        Jews for ``why things go wrong''. It is expressed in speech, 
        writing, visual forms, and action, and employs sinister 
        stereotypes and negative character traits.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) it is in the national interest of the United States to 
        combat anti-Semitism at home and abroad;
            (2) anti-Semitism is a challenge to the basic principles of 
        tolerance, pluralism, and democracy, and the shared values that 
        bind Americans and Europeans together;
            (3) there is an urgent need to ensure the safety and 
        security of European Jewish communities, including synagogues, 
        schools, cemeteries, and other institutions;
            (4) the United States should continue to emphasize the 
        importance of combating anti-Semitism in multilateral bodies, 
        including the United Nations, European Union institutions, and 
        the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe;
            (5) the Department of State should continue to thoroughly 
        document acts of anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic incitement that 
        occur around the world, and should continue to encourage other 
        countries to do the same, and share their findings; and
            (6) the Department of State should continue to work to 
        encourage adoption by national government institutions and 
        multilateral institutions of a working definition of anti-
        Semitism similar to the one adopted in the International 
        Holocaust Remembrance Alliance context.

SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORTING ON THE STATE OF ANTI-SEMITISM IN EUROPE.

    Paragraph (1) of section 102(b) of the International Religious 
Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6412) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(G) Anti-semitism in europe.--In addition to the 
                information required under clause (iv) of subparagraph 
                (A), with respect to each European country in which 
                verbal or physical threats or attacks are particularly 
                significant against Jewish persons, places of worship, 
                schools, cemeteries, and other religious institutions, 
                a description of--
                            ``(i) the security challenges and needs of 
                        European Jewish communities and European law 
                        enforcement agencies in such countries to 
                        better protect such communities;
                            ``(ii) to the extent practicable, the 
                        efforts of the United States Government over 
                        the reporting period to partner with European 
                        law enforcement agencies and civil society 
                        groups regarding the sharing of information and 
                        best practices to combat anti-Semitic incidents 
                        in Europe;
                            ``(iii) European educational programming 
                        and public awareness initiatives that aim to 
                        collaborate on educational curricula and 
                        campaigns that impart shared values of 
                        pluralism and tolerance, and showcase the 
                        positive contributions of Jews in culture, 
                        scholarship, science, and art, with special 
                        attention to those segments of the population 
                        that exhibit a high degree of anti-Semitic 
                        animus; and
                            ``(iv) efforts by European governments to 
                        adopt and apply a working definition of anti-
                        Semitism.''.
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