The Las Vegas City Council approved a resolution on Wednesday to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism and use it as an educational tool for municipal agencies, including law enforcement.
Resolution R-5-2024 was initiated by Councilwoman Victoria Seaman, who was a keynote speaker at the 2023 North American Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism organized by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last November.
It adopts the “non-legally binding IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, including the eleven contemporary examples” and says the City Council will “ensure that the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism is available as an educational resource for the law enforcement agencies serving the City and for other City agencies that may be responsible for or capable of addressing antisemitism and other forms of discrimination.”
The Las Vegas City Council is the 91st US municipal body to adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism.
“Today, the Las Vegas City Council passed my resolution recognizing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism as a powerful statement against hatred, showing solidarity with the Jewish community and a commitment to fighting antisemitism,” Councilwoman Seaman tweeted on Wednesday. “The timing on the four-month anniversary of the Oct. 7th attack on Israel adds significance to this important act and makes it clear that we will not tolerate bigotry in our city.”
In an interview with CAM last month, Councilwoman Seaman said the IHRA definition is important. “First and foremost, our City Council must show that we’re not tolerating antisemitism in any form. Second, I think the definition is important, so that law enforcement has something to work on. We want to make sure we’re helping the police department know what antisemitism is,” she said.
“We are very proud that a keynote speaker from our North American Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism this past fall, Councilwoman Victoria Seaman, was the driving force behind the City of Las Vegas adopting the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism,” CAM CEO Sacha Roytman said Wednesday.
“This will be a crucial tool for the city to identify and fight antisemitism citywide. In this time of rising antisemitism, Las Vegas and Councilwoman Seaman should be celebrated for standing up for their Jewish constituents and visitors.”
The Las Vegas adoption came two weeks after CAM, in partnership with the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, released the 2023 IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism Adoptions and Endorsements Report.
According to the data tallied in the study, there were 1,216 recognitions of the definition globally as of the end of December.
