Amid Anti-Semitism Row, Corbyn’s Labour Adopts IHRA Definition

Corbyn in 2013

Earlier this month, after much deliberation, the British Labour Party adopted the full IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. The decision came after Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, attempted to include an addendum to the definition that would allow party members to describe Israel as racist. The definition of anti-Semitism now adopted by the Labour Party is based upon the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition that has been adopted by multiple countries, including Britain itself. A version of the definition is also used by the U.S. Department of State and is relied upon by the Department of Education as well.

The debate concerning the definition has not, however, put issues of anti-Semitism to bed in the British Labour Party. Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn launched what has been described as a “purge” of pro-Israel Members of Parliament from the Labour Party following the vote. The purge led to no-confidence votes being passed against two openly pro-Israel MPs, both of whom had adopted adversarial stances towards Jeremy Corbyn. Two recent polls shed light on the circumstances of Jews in the United Kingdom following the upheaval in the Labour Party. The first poll, conducted by the Jewish Chronicle, found that 40% of British Jews would “seriously consider” emigrating from Britain if Jeremy Corbyn became Prime Minister. The second poll, conducted last week by the Jewish Chronicle as well, expanded upon the findings of the first poll when it revealed that around eighty-five percent of polled British Jews consider Jeremy Corbyn anti-Semitic.

The majority of the anti-Semitic incidents that have come to light in the United Kingdom in the past two months have revolved around the left-wing Labour Party. This Labour Party anti-Semitism has caused waves in British academic, political, and social circles. The initial decision to adopt a diluted version of the IHRA definition encountered widespread criticism and has demonstrated how the majority of the anti-Semitism emanating from the Labour Party is inextricably related to anti-Israelism. This summer featured several revelations concerning Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-Israel past, including his attendance and wreath-laying at a ceremony dedicated to the terrorists behind the Munich massacre of the Israeli Olympic team in 1972. The Labour Party, while attempting to shed its anti-Semitic image with the adoption of the IHRA definition, has been rebuffing many Jews through actions such as the invitation of controversial speaker Ewa Jasiewicz for an upcoming event. Jasiewicz is an anti-Israel campaigner who vandalized the Warsaw Ghetto wall in Poland with BDS slogans and messages.

Britain is not the only area of Europe that has been rocked by anti-Semitic incidents in the past two months. In August, a 40-year-old Palestinian man was sentenced to four months in jail by Swiss authorities following his assault of a Jewish man. In Hungary, Holocaust survivor and activist Elie Weisel’s childhood home was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti. Organizations dedicated to tracking trends in anti-Semitism over time have warned of increased anti-Semitic activity in both Europe and the United States. The recent report by the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry pointed to the rise of far-right parties, “along with anti-Semitism…mired  in  acute  anti-Zionism  and  anti-Israel expressions,” as causes of concern.