Wichita, Broward County and West Hollywood adopt International Definition of Antisemitism
The city of Wichita, Kansas, has adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism.
Mayor Brandon Whipple signed a proclamation on 15th September which orders local education and law enforcement to apply the Definition when addressing matters regarding antisemitism.
The Kansas legislature unanimously adopted the Definition in the HCR 5030 bill earlier this year.
The majority of the original Jewish population in Wichita arrived between 1860-1890 during the cattle boom, most of whom were from Germany or Austria. The current Jewish population in the Wichita is thought to be less than 1,000. The 2014 Pew Religious Landscape Survey showed that less than one percent of Kansas adults identified as Jewish. In 2017, the Jewish population of Kansas was reported to be 17,300.
The move to adopt the Definition comes after a series of antisemitic flyers were distributed throughout Wichita over the summer. The leaflets contain antisemitic conspiracy theories claiming that Jews are to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic and are involved in paedophilia, an age-old antisemitic trope.
Elsewhere, Broward County in Florida and West Hollywood in California have also adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism.
Britain was the first country in the world to adopt the International Definition, something for which Campaign Against Antisemitism and Lord Pickles worked hard over many meetings with officials at Downing Street. Wichita joins a growing list of local, state and national governments and public bodies to use the Definition.
