’Claiming Israel is a racist endeavor’: Britain adopts new definition of anti-Semitism
The move is seen by many as specifically highlighting anti-Zionist anti-Semitism. But the government could also be using it as a political tool against the left.
Daniella Peled Dec 12, 2016
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Britain will adopt a new definition of anti-Semitism in a move widely interpreted as intended to target prejudice on the anti-Zionist far-left.
The new wording was agreed in May at a Bucharest conference of the 31-member International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews,” the IHRA definition read. “Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
The Berlin-based body went on to provide further guidance, including “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.”
Conservative lawmaker Eric Pickles, the U.K.’s envoy to the IHRA, told the BBC that the new definition “catches up with modern anti-Semitism.”
"I think it’s important not to conflate Jewish people with Israel," he said. “That actually is the point in the definition.”
