The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism (a 38-word statement with accompanying guidelines) has been formally adopted by the UK government but is at the heart of a divisive dispute between Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and senior MP Dame Margaret Hodge.
The statement from Jersey’s government also comes at a time when local campaigners are raising concerns about anti-Semitism in the Island.
Setting out the reasons for the Council of Ministers’ decision not to adopt the IHRA definition, a government spokesman cited Jersey’s anti-discrimination legislation.
‘Jersey already has robust and effective anti-discrimination legislation that protects individuals from discrimination on the grounds of race, which would include acts of anti-Semitism,’ he said. ‘In addition, we intend to consult on a draft law dealing with hate crime, and crimes motivated by prejudice, before the end of 2018. This should include the offence of inciting racial hatred, or an equivalent offence.
‘Also, the States of Jersey Police have a hate crime policy and procedure in place to tackle crime motivated by hostility or prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability or against someone who is transgender.’
However, a spokesman for the Island’s Jewish community, Stephen Regal, has said that, while he applauds legislation that seeks to tackle racial hatred, adopting the IHRA definition would help to prevent ‘subtle religious or racial hatred’ that the law is unable to stop.
‘There are subtleties in public commentaries by some individuals, and indeed organisations, that if used by racists can get past the law, thus defeating if not the law, then certainly allowing the exploitation of the law, both here and in the UK, and can exploit any ambiguities in the law.
‘The IHRA working definition seeks to act as a codicil to the legislation and to try to prevent subtle racial or religious abuse. This certainly compares with individuals who conflate the actions of Israel with British members of the Jewish faith. The incorporation of the IHRA definition shall certainly make the legislation more robust and this is the reason that more than 130 organisations including the UK Conservative Party have signed up to this definition.’
Meanwhile, the Jersey Palestine solidarity campaign, the local branch of a national organisation that has a stated commitment to tackling ‘racism, occupation and colonisation’, has said that they follow the group’s head office in its opposition to the IHRA definition.
The director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Ben Jamal, said: ‘The IHRA document is deeply controversial. It has been severely criticised by, amongst others, the Institute of Race Relations, Liberty, leading British lawyers Geoffrey Bindman and Sir Stephen Sedley, and academic experts on anti-Semitism Professor David Feldman, Anthony Lerman and Brian Klug. Last month, 36 Jewish groups from across the world warned about the usages of the IHRA to suppress activism for Palestinian rights.’
