Georgia
Georgia Antisemitism Bill passes ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day causing celebration, protest
Pro-Palestine group protests Antisemitism Bill
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, a group of Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested the Antisemitism Bill that recently passed in the Georgia House.
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.”
Georgia softball stars Jayda Kearney and Sara Mosley were named first-team All-SEC picks on Friday, with Dallis Goodnight a second-team pick, but that would serve as no …
Mike Griffith
Police in Savannah, Georgia, are investigating a shooting that injured 11 people in the city’s downtown area on Saturday night.
The shooting broke out just before midnight in Ellis Square, a fixture of Savannah’s historic district and a popular tourist attraction. Several precincts responded at 11:55 p.m. to reports of gunfire in the area, the Savannah Police Department said in a news release issued Sunday morning.
At the time, detectives were probing the incident and had interviewed witnesses as part of their investigation, which was still ongoing. Savannah police have not identified suspects or announced any arrests in the case.
Everyone hurt in the shooting, including the people who suffered gunshot wounds, are adults, according to the police department, and some were transported from the scene to Memorial Health University Medical Center. Police did not share details about the nature or extent of those injuries but said in Sunday’s news release that “as of now, no deaths have occurred because of the incident.”
They told CBS affiliate WTOC that at least 10 people were believed to be hurt as a result of the gunfire. All 11 people received treatment overnight for their injuries, which police said were not considered life-threatening, WTOC reported.
Police have asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact Crime Stoppers at 912-234-2020.
Asked to explain whom Ivanishvili was referring to, Lashkhi volunteered that “freemasons” were behind schemes across the world. “We were seeing they do have the influence on global politics,” she insisted, but declined to name any other groups supposedly responsible.
“Today, when me, myself, I am involved in foreign relations and sometimes when I have the partnership and then they say that, well, you are OK and you are doing well but then there is an additional voice,” she went on.
Asked on a recent visit to the South Caucasus country for his thoughts on the idea of a “global war party” — a notion that echoes pro-Russian propaganda — Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielus Landsbergis burst out laughing. However, “it’s not a joke because it’s a serious thing and it’s the Kremlin’s narrative,” he said.
“The only war party is in Moscow,” Landsbergis added. “This is the party that attacked Georgia in 2008; this is the party that attacked Ukraine in 2014, and is currently waging a war against Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is our obligation to those who value freedom to fight this party and win this war,” he said.
Tens of thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets in recent weeks to oppose Georgian Dream’s proposals to require NGOs, campaign groups and media outlets that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as “organizations serving the interests of a foreign power.” Brussels has said the move is “incompatible with European values,” warning it would bar Georgia’s path to joining as a full member just six months after it was granted candidate status.
Police have used tear gas, riot shields and batons against protesters, and swooped in to arrest organizers and opposition politicians. At the same time, the government is pushing forward with a planned law to outlaw “LGBT propaganda,” which critics say would ban everything from film screenings to annual Pride events. The move would mirror rules used by Russia to persecute minority groups.
On Saturday, the chair of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, confirmed he would introduce legislation in Washington that would open the door to sanctioning leading Georgian Dream politicians.
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