Explainer: IHRA definition of antisemitism

Explainer: IHRA definition of antisemitism

What you need to know

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism is a widely adopted tool for recognising antisemitism in words or actions.

It is a tool to help recognise antisemitism. It is not legally binding and does not restrict free speech or prevent criticism of the Israeli government. 

It has been adopted by many governments and organisations in Australia and around the world. ECAJ encourages all Australian institutions to adopt and apply it.

A non-binding tool

The inter­gov­ern­ment­al Inter­na­tion­al Holocaust Remem­brance Alliance (IHRA) working defin­i­tion of antisemitism (often simply “the IHRA defin­i­tion”) is a non-binding tool to help educators, poli­cy­makers, law‑enforcement and civil society recognise antisemitism in words or actions. 

IHRA adopted it as a tool to help guide the organization’s work on combating antisemitism, as “combating antisemitism requires inter­na­tion­al cooper­a­tion among experts, gov­ern­ments, and civil society, which meant a mutual starting point for dis­cus­sion and action was needed”. 

Origin

It was adopted by IHRA in 2016 following a resur­gence in antisemitic incidents around the world, including violent attacks on Jewish indi­vidu­als and insti­tu­tions, in the wake of the second intifada.

It was based on an earlier defin­i­tion adopted in 2005 by the European Union Mon­it­or­ing Com­mis­sion (EUMC), now called the European Agency for Fun­da­ment­al Rights (FRA).

Widely adopted

The IHRA defin­i­tion the most widely accepted and used defin­i­tion of antisemitism by western gov­ern­ments, including Australia, and non-gov­ern­ment organ­isa­tions.

It has been adopted by over 1,000 entities and 45 gov­ern­ments by 2025, including here in Australia:

  • Aus­trali­an gov­ern­ment: October 2021
  • NSW state gov­ern­ment: December 2021
  • Waverley Council, in Sydney: November 2021
  • Glen Eira City Council, in Melbourne: April 2022
  • NSW state parliament’s Legis­lat­ive Council: March 2022
  • Victorian state gov­ern­ment and par­lia­ment: May 2022
  • South Aus­trali­an state parliament’s Legis­lat­ive Council: July 2022

ECAJ endorses the IHRA working defin­i­tion as a practical, inter­na­tion­ally-recog­nised tool to identify and combat antisemitism. We encourage all Aus­trali­an insti­tu­tions to adopt and apply it.

For the wording of ECAJ’s policy, see para­graphs 48.8, 48.9, and 49.10 in section 4 of our ECAJ policy platform.

What is IHRA?

The Inter­na­tion­al Holocaust Remem­brance Alliance (IHRA) is an inter­gov­ern­ment­al body composed of over 30 member countries including Australia. It is the only inter­gov­ern­ment­al organ­isa­tion mandated to focus solely on Holocaust-related issues.

IHRA was founded to deliver on the 2000 Stockholm Declar­a­tion and the 2020 Min­is­teri­al Declar­a­tion to combat growing Holocaust dis­tor­tion and antisemitism, and protect the memory of the Holocaust and genocide of the Roma.

For more inform­a­tion about IHRA see its website: https://holocaustremembrance.com/ 

Is the definition legally binding?

No. It is a non‑binding guideline that indi­vidu­al countries or organ­isa­tions choose whether and how to adopt it into laws or policies.

Is the definition the best definition of antisemitism?

Antisemitism takes many forms and evolves over time, making a single perfect defin­i­tion impossible. The IHRA defin­i­tion has become the most widely accepted and used tool for under­stand­ing mani­fest­a­tions of antisemitism today.

How can an organisation adopt it?

ECAJ recom­mends organ­isa­tions adopt the defin­i­tion by:

  1. Endorsing it with a formal res­ol­u­tion of the organisation’s governing body or lead­er­ship group.
  2. Incor­por­at­ing it in policies relating to conduct, dis­crim­in­a­tion, training, and com­plaints processes.
  3. Educating staff, office­hold­ers, and volunters about it using real-world examples.
  4. Using it to recognise antisemitism when assessing incidents or behaviour is antisemitic.

 

When adopting and using the defin­i­tion, the complete defin­i­tion and examples (repro­duced above) should be used, linked to the IHRA working defin­i­tion.

The IHRA definition is not being forced on anyone

The IHRA defin­i­tion is not legally-binding. No country or organ­isa­tion is forced to adopt it, but many choose to, to better identify and monitor antisemitism.

The IHRA definition does not restrict free speech

The IHRA defin­i­tion clarifies when speech becomes hateful and dis­crim­in­at­ory but does not ban legit­im­ate criticism of gov­ern­ments or policies. The right to freedom of speech does not extend to hate speech. The IHRA defin­i­tion does not prevent reas­on­able speech, including criticism of Israel, unless it is antisemitic.

The IHRA definition does not prevent criticism of Israel

The IHRA defin­i­tion itself says “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic”. However, it recog­nises that antisemitism can manifest as “the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish col­lectiv­ity” and includes several con­tem­por­ary examples of antisemitism.

Not all criticism of Israel or Zionism is antisemitic, but it can be

Context and content is critical. Not all criticism of Israel or Zionism is antisemitic, but antisemitism can manifest as targeting of Israel conceived as a Jewish col­lectiv­ity or applying double standards to Israel or Zionism as the expres­sion of Jewish aspir­a­tion for a national home.

The working defin­i­tion consists of a paragraph ‘core defin­i­tion’ followed by 11 examples to “serve as illus­tra­tions” of the kinds of conduct and discourse which, in context, can be con­sidered to be antisemitic. The following is the full original text of the working defin­i­tion and uses American spelling.

Core definition

Antisemitism is a certain per­cep­tion of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhet­or­ic­al and physical mani­fest­a­tions of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish indi­vidu­als and/or their property, toward Jewish community insti­tu­tions and religious facil­it­ies.

Examples

To guide IHRA in its work, the following examples may serve as illus­tra­tions:

Mani­fest­a­tions might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish col­lectiv­ity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic. Antisemitism fre­quently charges Jews with con­spir­ing to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for “why things go wrong.” It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms and action, and employs sinister ste­reo­types and negative character traits.

Con­tem­por­ary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:

  • Calling for, aiding, or jus­ti­fy­ing the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
  • Making men­dacious, dehu­man­iz­ing, demon­iz­ing, or ste­reo­typ­ic­al alleg­a­tions about Jews as such or the power of Jews as col­lect­ive — such as, espe­cially but not exclus­ively, the myth about a world Jewish con­spir­acy or of Jews con­trolling the media, economy, gov­ern­ment or other societal insti­tu­tions.
  • Accusing Jews as a people of being respons­ible for real or imagined wrong­do­ing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.
  • Denying the fact, scope, mech­an­isms (e.g. gas chambers) or inten­tion­al­ity of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its sup­port­ers and accom­plices during World War II (the Holocaust).
  • Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exag­ger­at­ing the Holocaust.
  • Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged pri­or­it­ies of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
  • Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determ­in­a­tion, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
  • Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other demo­crat­ic nation.
  • Using the symbols and images asso­ci­ated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to char­ac­ter­ize Israel or Israelis.
  • Drawing com­par­is­ons of con­tem­por­ary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
  • Holding Jews col­lect­ively respons­ible for actions of the state of Israel.

Antisemitic acts are criminal when they are so defined by law (for example, denial of the Holocaust or dis­tri­bu­tion of antisemitic materials in some countries).

Criminal acts are antisemitic when the targets of attacks, whether they are people or property – such as buildings, schools, places of worship and cemeter­ies – are selected because they are, or are perceived to be, Jewish or linked to Jews.

Antisemitic dis­crim­in­a­tion is the denial to Jews of oppor­tun­it­ies or services available to others and is illegal in many countries.

Source: IHRA.

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