While all of Vermont's New England neighbors have passed Holocaust education mandates, Vermont lawmakers have actively chosen to become the regional outlier.
It’s because the bill contains a definition of what constitutes “antisemitism “ that conflates standing against Israel’s Government’s policy of occupation, discrimination, torturing and killing of innocent Palestinians as an antisemitic act. Any criticism of the GOVERNMENT of the state of Israel is defined as antisemitism. So we can criticize our government and the governments of every other country on the planet but Israel. If passed as written, it would be a violation of Vermont law to stand against Israel’s genocide underway in Gaza and mistreatments of Palestinians in the West Bank.
House Bill H.294 (2023) – with Senate companion S.87 (2023) – was explicitly written “to require Vermont public schools to include Holocaust education in … curricula” statewide. Likewise, a 2022 bill H.457 would have required a report on Holocaust education status. All of these were introduced before the October 2023 Gaza–Israel war. As the article notes, H.294/S.87 “died” in committee and H.457 likewise never passed. All these proposals were focused solely on ensuring Holocaust content in the curriculum. None of the bills’ texts mention Israel or define antisemitism.
It’s because the bill contains a definition of what constitutes “antisemitism “ that conflates standing against Israel’s Government’s policy of occupation, discrimination, torturing and killing of innocent Palestinians as an antisemitic act. Any criticism of the GOVERNMENT of the state of Israel is defined as antisemitism. So we can criticize our government and the governments of every other country on the planet but Israel. If passed as written, it would be a violation of Vermont law to stand against Israel’s genocide underway in Gaza and mistreatments of Palestinians in the West Bank.
House Bill H.294 (2023) – with Senate companion S.87 (2023) – was explicitly written “to require Vermont public schools to include Holocaust education in … curricula” statewide. Likewise, a 2022 bill H.457 would have required a report on Holocaust education status. All of these were introduced before the October 2023 Gaza–Israel war. As the article notes, H.294/S.87 “died” in committee and H.457 likewise never passed. All these proposals were focused solely on ensuring Holocaust content in the curriculum. None of the bills’ texts mention Israel or define antisemitism.