Antisemitism

Both laws take effect July 1st.

This week on The Florida Roundup, we discuss legislation targeting antisemitic speech and behavior, a report finding a rise in antisemitic incidents in 2023, an NPR Investigation into the fractured history told by the thousands of historical markers across the country, and President Biden’s speech in Tampa.

The governor’s comments come amid a rise in antisemitism and anti-Israel demonstrations across the country. He says that without any repercussion, protests could become increasingly violent.

Israeli survivors of the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 visited college campuses in South Florida in April to bring their stories to students and combat antisemitism.

The House passed the bill last month, but would need to consider minor changes by the Senate before sending the measure to the governor.

Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel's artifacts will be coming to the USF campus and Florida Holocaust Museum. The sites plan to use his message to fight what they say is a surge in antisemitism.

The Florida House on Wednesday is scheduled to take up 17 bills during a floor session, including measures on the definition of antisemitism and safety in certain child-custody situations.

The Middle East war has spurred an increase in antisemitic incidents and attacks on Jewish Americans. With Florida's new "permitless carry" law in place, more Jews are purchasing guns in response.

Nikki Haley has denounced Republican presidential rival Ron DeSantis in Iowa for campaigning in the state with Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie. Massie was the lone House Republican who voted last week against a GOP resolution condemning antisemitism on university campuses.

The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation into UT and Hillsborough County Schools under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

Two people accused of hanging banners with swastikas and antisemitic messages on a Florida highway overpass have surrendered to authorities. They're charged with violating a new state law that makes it a crime to display images on a structure without permission.

At a conference in Broward County, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt — President Biden's Special Envoy to combat antisemitism — called the rise in hatred against Jewish people "very frightening," singling out its "normalization" in the discourse of celebrities as a "major concern."