active campaign

Over 400 top academics from around the world have signed a letter expressing their support for the International Holocaust Remebrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, citing its necessity in efforts against Jew-hatred worldwide.

The letter describes the IHRA definition as an “invaluable tool that recognizes the various manifestations and garbs of contemporary antisemitism.”

Since its adoption by IHRA — a 34-member intergovernmental body — in 2016, critics with political agendas have sought to undermine its proven effectiveness, and in recent months alternative watered-down versions have been proposed that promote the false notions that BDS efforts against Israel and the denial of the Jewish right to self-determination are not anti-Semitic.

The letter addresses this issue, saying, “We would never suggest that criticism of Israel is antisemitic. This argument is simply a strawman.”

“However,” it added, “when Israel’s very existence is delegitimized and threatened, when Israelis and Jews are excluded because of their association with the Jewish state, and when anti-Semitic conspiracies and tropes flourish under the guise of anti-Israelism and anti-Zionism, we recognize that this is anti-Semitism.”

Academics, intellectuals, and others who wish to add their signatures to the letter can do so here.