32 No. 76 JUSTICE antisemitic discourse, including Holocaust denial,8 and continues to be widely relied upon across the Middle East. It is antisemitic to hold Jews globally responsible for the actions of the Israeli government, or to depict them as proxies for that government. Contemporary antisemitism includes denying that Jews as a people have a right to self-determination, or conflating Zionism, the Jewish self-determination movement, with racism. Just as treating Jews as different or separate from all other people is antisemitic, so too is treating the State of Israel as different from other countries or holding it to different standards of account. Criticism of the policies of the State of Israel and events relating to the Israel-Palestinian conflict is not per se antisemitic. Having said this, events in the Middle East can never be used to justify antisemitism.9 The “Working Definition of Antisemitism” adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 201610 includes many different forms of antisemitism. The IHRA definition sets out that: 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. It then provides a list of examples that “may serve as illustrations.” The Working Definition is not intended to form part of criminal or civil laws prohibiting antisemitism, but rather to serve as an educational and monitoring tool. It has been adopted by several individual countries and agencies, including many UK universities, and it has been endorsed by the European Parliament, which has recommended its adoption by EU Member States.11 UK Universities since October 7 On October 8, 2023, academics and students in the UK could already be seen on social media celebrating and even glorifying “the resistance” and calling for a free Palestine from the river to the sea. Rather than express solidarity with the victims of terror, as often had been the case after atrocities committed around the world, most UK universities were slow to make statements. Those that eventually issued statements failed to condemn the attacks but instead expressed solidarity with all people affected by the Israel-Palestine conflict. This can be contrasted with other global events such as the invasion of Ukraine, which saw statements and flags among other expressions of solidarity on campuses, or the support given to the Black Lives Matter movement after the killing of George Floyd in the U.S. The silence of university leaders was soon followed by pro-Palestine protests, encampments on campuses, and a surge in antisemitism against Jewish and/or Israeli staff and students. Those events have been well documented,12 but it is important to present some illustrative examples. 8. The European Court of Human Rights stated that “denying the reality of clearly established historical facts, such as the Holocaust, does not constitute historical research akin to a quest for the truth…the real purpose being to rehabilitate the National-Socialist regime and, as a consequence, accuse the victims themselves of falsifying history.” See Garraud v. France (Application No. 65831/01), European Court of Human Rights (June 24, 2003), available at https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng# {%22itemid%22:[%22002-4830%22]} 9. See the OSCE Berlin Declaration, where Member States “Declare unambiguously that international developments or political issues, including those in Israel or elsewhere in the Middle East, never justify anti-Semitism.” “Berlin Declaration, 2004,” ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE (Apr. 29, 2004), available at https://www.osce.org/cio/31432 10.“Working Definition of Antisemitism,” adopted by the IHRA Plenary (Bucharest, May 26, 2016), available at https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/workingdefinition-antisemitism 11.“EU Parliament urges states to adopt working definition of anti-Semitism,” TIMES OF ISRAEL (June 2, 2017), available at https://www.timesofisrael.com/europeanparliament-votes-to-adopt-working-definition-of-antisemitism/; “European Parliament resolution on combating anti-Semitism,” EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (May 29, 2017), available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B8-20170383&language=EN 12. See “Voice of Students,” STANDWITHUS UK (Updated July 30, 2025), available at https://standwithus.com/ library/reports/uk-voice-of-students/; “I Have Never Felt Less Protected as a Jew”: Antisemitism at UK Universities since 7th October 2023, ICPG (2024), available at https://www.icpg.org.uk/_files/ugd/e23fb6_ f233abe19150411c95e84a73196b8bbf.pdf (“ICPG student survey report”).
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