Today, members of the Ohio Legislature took a positive step forward, pushing back against anti-Semitism by passing out of committee HCR 10, the resolution to condemn the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel and to condemn increasing incidents of anti-Semitism on Ohio college campuses.

OCA President Chris Long stated, "The Ohio Christian Alliance is pleased to lend its support to this resolution that Representatives Andy Thompson and David Greenspan, along with 25 other co-sponsors, have signed on to.

The Holocaust began with boycotts and discrimination. In 1933, the German government enacted a series of anti-Jewish laws restricting the rights of German Jews to earn a living, to enjoy full citizenship and to gain education, and to work in the civil service. The subsequent 1935 Nuremberg Laws stripped German Jews of their citizenship and forbade Jews to marry non-Jewish Germans. These laws resulted in the exclusion of Jews from social and political life. These boycotts culminated in the Night of Terror on November 9, 1938, known as Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass, in which Jewish-owned businesses, homes, and synagogues were ransacked and burned. Many Jews were beaten and lost their lives. It is estimated that that night 30,000 Jewish men were incarcerated and sent to the concentration camps. This was the beginning of the Holocaust.

The recent boycotts and sanctions movement by some groups on college campuses in Ohio have created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation of Jewish students, as the State of Israel has been targeted, Jews specifically.

Unfortunately, incidents of anti-Semitism continue on Ohio college campuses. Most recently at Ohio University of Athens, during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Nazi swastikas were drawn on dormitory hallways and campus sidewalks. Officials at Ohio University have told Rep. Thompson that they are investigating the incident. It is for this reason that a strong statement from the Ohio legislature condemning such acts is needed at this time."

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