PA Senators unite to introduce a resolution in the senate condemning antisemitism.
As of June 18th, Pennsylvania senators John Fetterman and Dave McCormick introduced Senate Resolution 288 condemning rising antisemitic violence in the U.S., garnering support for the Antisemitism Awareness Act waiting for a senate vote. Fetterman and McCormick cited this month’s terror attack at the Pro-Israel rally in Colorado, the firebombing of Governor Shapiro’s residence in April and the recent murder of the Israeli embassy staffers in May.
The Antisemitism Awareness Act was reintroduced to the Senate Committee on Health, Education and Labor in February of 2025. A similar act was previously passed in the House in 2023 but failed to make it through a senate vote due in part to the perceived impingement of free speech rights involved in the bill’s enforcement. The current bill was hotly debated in the senate and voting has subsequently been postponed since late April.
“Jewish Americans are being threatened, harassed and attacked simply because of their faith, and that is completely unacceptable,” Fetterman said. “The House stood together and made it clear that we are united in standing against antisemitism wherever it appears, and the Senate must do the same.”
Fetterman and McCormick’s June 18th resolution is one step in a long line of recent government pushes to combat rising hatred against Jewish individuals and communities. In May of 2023, the White House issued the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, with the intention to “increase awareness and understanding of antisemitism, including its threat to America; improve safety and security for Jewish communities; reverse the normalization of antisemitism and counter antisemitic discrimination.”
The Antisemitism Awareness Act calls the fight against the spreading hatred for Jews a “national, bipartisan priority” and demands a “whole-of-government-and-society approach.” Pennsylvania Senators John Fetterman (Democrat) and Dave McCormick (Republican) introduced the resolution embodying the bipartisan approach urged in the bill.
The bill seeks to include antisemitism under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1965–which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin–and relies on the working definition of antisemitism outlined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA).
The IHRA currently defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews” and includes both rhetorical and physical manifestations of said hatred.
Proponents of the bill argue that antisemitic acts are motivated by a perceived ethnic background and thus members of the Jewish faith already merit protection under Title VI but require a bill for awareness and enforcement.
Objectors to the bill have raised issues including whether enforcement of the IHRA’s antisemitism definition would restrict free speech and impinge on an individual’s constitutional rights. Senators, including Bernie Sanders in 2023, proposed an amendment that legitimate criticism of the Israeli government should not be classified as antisemitism.
Antisemitic discrimination has been on the rise across the U.S. and in Pennsylvania since the Hamas attack in 2023, particularly among Jewish college students who have faced intimidation, harassment, and threats. In September of 2024, Jewish Pitt Student Brandon Bowman was verbally and physically attacked by a group of seven on his way home for wearing a Star of David necklace.
Bowman said of the incident, “I have had Jew jokes made about me, you know, and people make subtle comments about my identity, but this is sort of, like, the first time I’ve been attacked for my identity, and that was a very tough time for me. Not only was I physically hurt, but I was demoralized.”
Acts of Jewish hatred are not restricted to the student community, nor are they isolated to the months following the Hamas attack in 2023. Antisemitism has been on the rise in Pittsburgh since the 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill, the deadliest attack against Jews in U.S. history.
In early May of this year, the Pittsburgh Police and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh requested help finding a group who distributed hateful flyers in the Squirrel Hill and Shadyside areas.
In April of this year, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence was firebombed on the first night of Passover after a large religious celebration held by the governor. Arsonist and assailant, Cody A. Balmer, indicated intent to kill the governor. According to the Pennsylvania State Police search warrant, Balmer was motivated by Shapiro’s perceived anti-Palestinian stance.
