The following letter was written by Academics for Palestine in response to the government’s proposed adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Sir, – We write in response to the draft programme for government agreed by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents which states that it will “Give effect to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance ‘Working Definition of Antisemitism’ and implement the EU declaration on ‘Fostering Jewish Life in Europe’”.
This is extremely worrying, as some of the examples attached to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) “Working Definition of Antisemitism” very problematically equate anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel and anti-Zionism.
Zionism is a political ideology and therefore should be open to criticism and opposition like any other ideology. Criticism of Israel and Zionism should not be equated with racism or anti-Jewish bigotry.
This definition has been widely criticised by Palestinian and Israeli civil society groups, by Jewish and anti-racist organisations worldwide, as well as by all leading international human rights organisations.
As academics, we are particularly concerned by the misuse of the definition in the university sector in other jurisdictions.
The academic British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, in a detailed joint report with the European Legal Centre, analysed the effects of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism on higher education institutions in Britain, finding its impact detrimental in terms of undermining freedom of speech and academic freedom and producing unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism. Even the principal drafter of the text that became the IHRA definition, Kenneth Stern, has deplored the abuse of it as a tool to target speech on college campuses.
We call on the new government to reverse its support for a definition that seeks to censor valid and important criticism of human rights abuses carried out by the Israeli state. – Yours, etc,
academicsforpalestine.org 