Definition of antisemitism ‘will harm Welsh Jews’
AWELSH Jewish genocide historian has urged the Labour Party and Plaid Cymru to reject a definition of antisemitism which he says conflates the hatred of Jews with opposition to the state of Israel.
Following allegations that antisemitism is rife within Labour, the party has come under intense pressure to accept the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) wording. Plaid Cymru’s MPs have also said they want the party to adopt that position.
But Mike Joseph, who lives in Fishguard, says doing so would result in many prominent Jewish critics of Israel being themselves classified as antisemitic.
In an article for the online version of the cultural magazine Planet, Mr Joseph states: “At first it seemed just another instance of Labour’s problems with antisemitism. What should stop Labour from ratifying in full the ‘internationally accepted’ definition of antisemitism? Then I read the definition, guidance and examples in growing astonishment. The IHRA’s code should worry everyone, especially Jews.
“It achieves what generations of antisemitism have not, discrediting the very concept of antisemitism, by weaponising it in defence of the Israeli government.”
Mr Joseph argues that from the start of its “guidance”, the IHRA prioritises Israel, not Jews.
The guidance states: “Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.”
The historian writes: “This summer, with perfect timing, Israel legislated that only Jews have a right to national self-determination in Israel. The IHRA gives valuable cover to this explicitly racist policy. No less than seven of the 11 ‘examples’ of antisemitism refer to Israel and to criticisms of Israel, seeking to merge and confuse antisemitism with anti-Zionism. By conflating the two, the IHRA condemns Jewish critics of Israel as antisemites.
Mr Joseph goes on to list a number of prominent Jews who, he states, have breached the code, including Rabbi Gerhard Graf, founder of Wales’ only Reform Synagogue: “Nearly half of Dr Graf ’s Welsh congregation were German-born refugees like himself,” writes Mr Joseph.
“In the 1950s, progressive Judaism was anti-Zionist, in line with the Reform view of Judaism as a religion, not a nationalism. Rabbi Graf was a prominent member of the Jewish Fellowship, the leading Jewish anti-Zionist campaign in Britain, at the time of the formation of Israel.”
Mr Joseph says Dr Graf breaches Example 7 in the IHRA definition: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, eg by claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavour.”
Other Jews who have breached the code, according to Mr Joseph, include Primo Levi, an Auschwitz survivor who wrote powerfully about Nazism and genocide, and Daniel Barenboim, the pianist and conductor, who wrote earlier this year: “We have a law that confirms the Arab population as secondclass citizens.
“It follows that this is a very clear form of apartheid.
“I don’t think the Jewish people lived for 20 centuries, mostly through persecution and enduring endless cruelties, in order to become the oppressor, inflicting cruelty on others. This new law does exactly that. Therefore, I am ashamed of being an Israeli today.” According to Mr Joseph, Barenboim breaches Example 7.
Mr Joseph concludes: “The IHRA declaration defames these and all Jews who say that Israel does not act in our name. The code should be seen for what it is, a blatant defence of Israel’s apartheid state. Should Plaid vote for the definition, it will do so knowing it gives a win to [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and his racist Zionism; and thereby will harm Welsh Jews.”
A Plaid Cymru spokesman said: “We are committed to tackling racism in all its forms, including antisemitism. The party will consider the IHRA definition at our National Council later this year.”
Labour did not respond to a request for comment.