Ukip refuses to adopt IHRA definition
THE BOARD of Deputies has condemned Ukip’s “unclear” position on the internationally accepted definition of antisemitism, as the party followed Labour in being dragged into a row over the code.
A host of other communal organisations, including the Community Security
Trust (CST), the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) and the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCore), also called for Ukip to adopt the the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance antisemitism definition.
Labour’s refusal to adopt the same definition, in favour of a watered down version that omits key examples of how criticising Israel can be antisemitic, has triggered a huge standoff with the Jewish community.
Senior Ukip figures have resisted the IHRA definition, the Daily Mirror reported last week, with some claiming that it would infringe on members’ freedom of speech.
A CST spokesman added: “Alarm bells always ring when a political party objects to straightforward anti-racism guidelines.”
Edie Friedman, the director of JCore, told the JC it was “incumbent on all political parties to examine how they respond to all forms of racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, and to consider how their practices can be made more transparent.”
A party spokesman said that Ukip “takes no issue” with the IHRA definition but it does not adopt “third-party declarations”.
He also said that “there would be no need” to sign up to the code, claiming antisemitism is already covered by rule 2.4 of the party’s constitution, which prohibits discrimination based on a number of factors, including race, religion and ethnicity.
It was reported that Pat Bright, who sits on the Ukip national executive committee, initially suggested the incorporation of the code, in a bid to prove that the party’s opposition to shechita is not fuelled by antisemitism. Ukip leader Gerard Batten refused to sign the party up to the definition in full, insisting antisemitism is covered under the party’s existing rules.
According to the Daily Mirror, Elizabeth Jones, also a member of Ukip’s NEC, wrote in an email: “No way. We are the party of free speech. We cannot sign any document that restricts that position.”
A 2015 poll by YouGov found people who said they intended to vote Ukip were consistently more likely to agree with antisemitic statements. The poll, carried out for Campaign Against Antisemitism, found 17 per cent of British adults agreed with the statement “Jews think they are better than other people”, but this rose to 27 per cent among Ukip voters.
A PE teacher-turned-fitness guru faces being struck off the teaching register amid claims he called a pupil a “poofy jew.”
Darren Marr has been accused of putting a bowl on top of the boy’s head and making the antisemitic remark during a PE lesson in 2014.
Mr Marr has also been accused of repeatedly slapping the teenager over the head during the incident at Inveralmond Community High in Livingston, West Lothian.
The former secondary teacher, who is now a fitness coach, appeared in Livingston Sheriff Court in 2015 in relation to the remarks.
He was found not guilty of assault and the charge of racially aggravated conducted was found not proven.
However this week the General Teaching Council of Scotland (GTCS) began investigating the accusations to determine whether Mr Marr’s fitness to teach is impaired.
Mr Marr, who is believed to live in West Lothian, appeared at the GTCS hearing in Edinburgh on Monday.
During the hearing, he admitted Darren Marr: faces being struck off
making physical contact with the boy, but he denies making the antisemitic and homophobic remarks.
He also admits to contacting a member of staff whilst suspended to ask them to contact pupils on his behalf regarding the incident.
The GTCS panel also heard that the pupil involved was consequently bullied by fellow pupils for being a “grass”.
Donna McMaster, who was headteacher at Inveralmond Community High at the time of the incident, gave evidence and said she thought Mr Marr should have “known better”.
She said: “It was inappropriate and unprofessional. Placing a bowl on the pupil’s head is not acceptable.
According to a statement made by Mr Marr during an investigation at the time by West Lothian Council, he said the physical contact was a “gentle coax”.
During the hearing in 2015, the pupil said he felt humiliated: “I said: ‘Go on, keep hitting me then’ and he slapped me a further four or five times.
“The people closest to me were shocked but the other people in the class were laughing. He called me a Poofy Jew. I just felt he was trying to humiliate me in front of the class. The others were just staring and laughing.
“He crouched down beside me and said: ‘Are you going to cry, big boy?’”
Whilst teaching PE at Inveralmond, Mr Marr, 32, was head of house which involved providing support to around 150 pupils. It is understood he was suspended and later dismissed from his teaching role in 2014 following an investigation into the pupil’s claims.
We are the party of free speech’