Why is the EU helping to label Israel criticism as antisemitism?
JVL Introduction
In an important article in +972 magazine, former Israeli Ambassador Ilan Baruch highlights the instrumentalization of the IHRA definition of antisemitism within the EU.
He asks why the European Commission has allowed itself to be hijacked by a sectarian project, into publishing an official “Handbook for the practical use of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.”
It even lists as an antisemitic event the 2015 the Wiesenthal Center describing the European Union as antisemitic for its decision to label Israeli settlement products!
And it fails to mention the landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice in June 2020 affirming BDS as free speech.
It is being actively used by the Israeli right-wing group, NGO Monitor, in its ongoing campaign to undermine international funding for NGOs that criticize and challenge the Israeli government.
It is clearly high time the Commission recognises how it is being used, and withdraws this damaging Handbook.
This article was originally published by +972 magazine on Mon 19 Apr 2021. Read the original here.
Why is the EU helping to label Israel criticism as antisemitism?
By adopting the IHRA definition, the EU is playing into the agendas of Israel advocacy groups that undermine civil society work against the occupation.
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I understand that the European Union ‘has entangled itself with actors and agendas that are weaponizing the IHRA definition for motives other than fighting antisemitism’; what I don’t see is why the Union has encouraged these lobbyists to dictate EU policy. Of course the fear of being labelled anti-semitic is these days enormous, particularly since such charges can be career-ending, but there should be enough people of good conscience in the EU to resist taking sides in a dispute so toxic and potentially damaging to world peace. The UN has, after all, declared Israel’s settlement building illegal – is this a fact that can simply be wished away?