Highland Park council adopts IHRA working definition of antisemitism

The Highland Park City Council voted unanimously Aug. 11 to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism and directed the city manager to implement education and training and update employment materials. The ordinance — adopted as amended and read into the record at the meeting — inserts the IHRA working definition into the city employment manual under prohibited acts of discrimination by city employees and contractors. City staff also said they will communicate the action to businesses and the public. Council member Littauer, who led the proposal, said adopting the definition will help staff and the public identify antisemitic behavior. “Hate has no home in Highland Park, and today we are strengthening that message,” Littauer said. Members of the council described the measure as a needed, locally tailored step in response to rising antisemitic incidents regionally and nationally. Council member Tapia framed the action as an equity effort: “Equity means you have to address the particular things that are inequitable for that particular community in those particular nuanced ways,” he said. Mayor Rotering and other council members said they expect the city’s Human Relations Advisory Group to review related hate-and-discrimination materials for other communities and identities at a later date. The motion was taken as part of the consent/omnibus items and carried 7–0. City staff told the council that minor edits recommended at Committee of the Whole and by council members were incorporated into the final ordinance before the vote. The council directed staff to post explanatory material on the city website and provide training for employees. Council members and local Jewish organizations who worked on the language told the council they had provided legal and policy research to help shape the final text. The council did not take separate action on broader human-relations work, which staff said will return for review by the Human Relations Advisory Group and Committee of the Whole. The ordinance is effective upon passage and publication under the terms read at the meeting.