Labour accused of weakening fight against anti-Semitism by group behind global definition
2 min read
Labour has been accused of undermining the global fight against anti-Semitism by the body which drew up the international definition of the issue.
In a major intervention, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance said "adding or removing" anything from its guideline - as Labour has done - is a blow to their attempts to tackle the problem.
Labour has been mired in controversy ever since its ruling national executive committee upheld a decision not to include the full IHRA definition, along with 11 illustrative examples of anti-Semitism, in a new code of conduct.
The party has insisted that the decision actually strengthens the IHRA definition and "contextualises" it so it is applicable to a political party's structures.
But in a statement posted on the IHRA website, the group's UK delegation said: "Any ‘modified’ version of the IHRA definition that does not include all of its 11 examples is no longer the IHRA definition.
"Adding or removing language undermines the months of international diplomacy and academic rigour that enabled this definition to exist.
"If one organisation or institution can amend the wording to suit its needs, then logically anyone else could do the same. We would once again revert to a world where anti-Semitism goes unaddressed simply because different entities cannot agree on what it is."
Labour has agreed to hold further talks with the Jewish community about the IHRA guidelines, and it is understood that Mr Corbyn is willing to compromise further on the anti-Semitism definition.
But the party leadership are likely to stop short of accepting the full implementation, as demanded by most Labour MPs and Jewish groups.
The ongoing row led to the Labour leader issuing a video message in which he apologised for the “hurt caused” to Jewish people by anti-Semitism within Labour and admitted the party had been “too slow” to deal with the issue.
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