You report that the government is going to adopt a “new definition” of antisemitism in order to prevent an “over-sweeping condemnation of Israel” (Britain to pioneer new antisemitism definition, 12 December). The new definition has nothing to do with opposing antisemitism, it is merely designed to silence public debate on Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians. Antisemitic incidents comprise about 2% of all hate crime. Why then the concentration on antisemitism and not on Islamophobia, which is far more widespread? The suspicion must be that the real concern is not with antisemitism but with Britain’s support for Israel.

New antisemitism definition is justified | Letters Read more

Israel claims to be “the only democracy in the Middle East.” Palestinians who live under Israeli occupation are governed by a wholly different set of laws than Jewish settlers. This makes Israel the world’s only apartheid state and thus deserving of strong condemnation and the target of boycott, divestment and sanctions. We agree that it is antisemitic to associate Jews with the actions of the Israeli state. Unfortunately this is precisely what the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition will achieve through perpetuating the stereotype that all Jews support the Israeli state. The IHRA will strengthen not weaken antisemitism. There is a very simple definition of antisemitism from Oxford University’s Brian Klug. Antisemitism is “a form of hostility towards Jews as ‘Jews’.” The IHRA definition smuggles in anti-Zionism, in the guise of antisemitism, as a means of protecting the Israeli state and thus western foreign policy.

Tony Greenstein

Jacqueline Walker

Miriam Margolyes

Professor Haim Bresheeth

Professor Nira Yuval-Davis

Michael Sackin Jews for Justice for Palestinians

Dr Derek Summerfield King’s College

Professor Roger Iredale

Averil Parkinson Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Dr Vacy Vlazna Coordinator, Justice for Palestine Matters

Vicky Moller Child survivor of the Holocaust

Dr Cathy Rozel Farnworth

Rica Bird

Chantal Cameron

Robert Cohen

Brian Chinnery

Mike Cushman

Deborah Darnes

Patrick Darnes

Helen Dickson

Tony Dickinson

Greg Dropkin

Mark Elf

Deborah Fink

Kenny Fryde

Terry Gallogly

Judy Granville

James Hall

William Hanna

Jenny Hardacre

Abe Hayeem

Alain Hertzmann

Doug Holton

Grahame Humphreys

John Leigh-Brown

Penny Leigh-Brown

Leah Levane

Les Levidow

Richard Lightbown

Beverley Lloyd

Kathy McCubbing

Elizabeth Morley

Diana Neslen

Caroline O’Reilly

Edmond O’Reilly

Juergen Peter

Nicola Pratt University of Warwick

Roland Rance

Janine Reed

Bronwen Roberts

Donald Saunders

Ian Saville

Miriam Scharf

Richard Seaford

Roddy Slorach

Charles Stuart

Jean Sullivan

Bernice Walker

Adam Waterhouse

Eric Willoughby

Dorothy Wilson

Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi

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