January 31, 2024
Three months almost to the day after a Bremerton City Council meeting was Zoom-bombed with antisemitic hate speech, the Council voted unanimously (7-0) on January 17th, 2024 to adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism "in full for the City of Bremerton, including the examples provided by the IHRA" as a tool to help the city identify, combat, and respond to antisemitic hate speech and hate crimes.
The Council President at the time of the Zoom bombing, Jeff Coughlin, was the primary author of the resolution, and it was formally co-sponsored by the only Jewish member of the Bremerton City Council. Two Councilors (who were both initially opposed to the resolution) specifically cited a wish to listen to the majority of the Jewish community as they cast their votes in favor of passage, while the others referenced the fact that IHRA's passage would be a direct response to a hate crime which had specifically targeted members of Bremerton's Jewish community, and one that would provide a tool the Council did not previously have to address such hate.
Bremerton's passage of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism means that at least one jurisdiction in each of the four Puget Sound metro area counties has now adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism: Tacoma (Pierce County), Bellevue (King County), Des Moines (King County), Mill Creek (Snohomish County), Snohomish County itself, and now Bremerton (Kitsap County). In addition, King County's definition makes use of IHRA, though it does not simply adopt it as written like the others on this list.
Thank you to the City Council of the City of Bremerton, WA for the Resolution adopting the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism.
See the full proclamation here.
