Summer 2021 issue of Jewish Socialist is now available
Published
by
Richard Kuper
JVL Introduction
The Jewish Socialist summer edition is now out
It includes many feature articles including :
- Raf Salkie on JVL’s analysis of the EHRC report into antisemitism in the Labour Party
- Members of B’Tselem and Zochrot on Israel -Palestine today
- Aviah Day on the making of a Black, Jewish, feminist and working class activist
and much else besides
Not least of which is Julia Bard’s analysis of the importance of the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism – reproduced below.
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This article was originally published by Jewish Socialist on Tue 3 Aug 2021. Read the original here.
A defining moment
JULIA BARD evaluates the potential of the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism to reset the political dial, and undo the damage done by the imposition of the IHRA Working Definition
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The aspect of the IHRA code which baffles me is the obligation to endorse “the Jewish people’s right to self determination.” There are various interpretations of this concept, all in contradiction to one and other. A small minority of ultra-orthodox believe the state of Israel has no legitimacy in contrast to Israeli hawks who wish to see an expansionist unitary Israel encompassing Judea and Samaria aka the West Bank. The Israeli Government, who in practice define the JPRTSD, veer towards the latter. The international community wants a two-state solution. We can’t agree with all these contradictory concepts. Yet the IHRA code requires us to do so. Under the IHRA code, failure to endorse any and all interpretations invites allegations of anti-semitism from those who disagree with you. This is mad.
A thoughtful and well reasoned article. The adoption of the IHRA definition renders reference to apartheid structures in the case of the Israeli regime as anti-Semitic which it clearly is not. Adoption of JDA solves this flaw in the IHRA definition by disentangling the definition of antisemitism from political opinions on the state of Israel. It also allows someone to support the one democratic secular state solution without facing the charge of antisemitism. This is why the Israeli Lobby are trying to rubbish JDA.