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The Highland Park City Council in Illinois voted by a unanimous 7-0 margin on Monday to enshrine the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism into city law.
Highland Park — a suburban community with a large Jewish population located 25 miles north of Chicago — is the first city in Illinois to adopt the IHRA definition in an ordinance, rather than via a resolution. The ordinance includes the IHRA definition’s 11 contemporary examples and requires the definition’s integration into municipal anti-discrimination policies. Furthermore, it mandates staff training, public awareness programs, and prominent placement of the definition on the city’s website and materials.
“Not only do we condemn all forms of discrimination, including antisemitism, but we can now identify such behavior in order to combat it, and to teach others to do the same,” said City Council Member Annette Lidawer, who initiated the ordinance.
City Council Member Andrés Tapia noted, “Passing this legislation, we will set the standard for other communities in Illinois.”
Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) Chief Government Affairs Officer Lisa Katz — who leads CAM’s municipal initiatives engaging mayors across the United States — welcomed the vote, saying, “By adopting the IHRA definition into city law, the Highland Park City Council demonstrated a clear and enforceable commitment to ensuring antisemitism will be recognized, addressed, and confronted. This precedent-setting move should be replicated by other cities nationwide.”
The IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism has been adopted by more than 1,200 entities — including international, national, and local governing authorities, civic bodies, NGOs, educational institutions, athletic leagues and clubs, and corporations — worldwide since 2016.
Adoption and implementation of the IHRA definition was a core element of the Municipal Antisemitism Action Index, unveiled by CAM last December at the 2024 North American Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism in Beverly Hills, California, as a tool to measure and encourage meaningful local leadership in the fight against antisemitism.
The Highland Park City Council is headed by Mayor Nancy Rotering. In May 2023, CAM participated in the Highland Park City Council’s official municipal recognition of Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM).
Watch a CBS News Chicago report on Highland Park’s IHRA definition adoption HERE:
