One MP urged the party to ‘listen to the Jewish community’
LONDON—Labour Members of the Parliament have defied the party leadership by voting overwhelmingly in favour of adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism in full, The Jewish Chronicle reported.
The vote took place Monday at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
The motion was seconded by the parliamentary chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, Luciana Berger.
It stated: “The PLP adopts the full IHRA definition of antisemitism, including all of its accompanying examples, and believes this should be used to define, understand and act against antisemitism in the Labour Party.”
During the meeting, MP Wes Streeting attacked moves within the party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, to adopt a new definition of Jew hate backed by General Secretary Jennie Formby omitting four of the examples of antisemitism previously contained in the IHRA definition: accusing Jewish people of being more loyal to Israel than the country they live in, suggesting Israel’s existence is racist, holding Israel to a higher standard than other countries and comparing Israeli polices to those of the Nazis..
Streeting called for the party to listen to views of the Board Of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council on the matter.
He argued that saying the two groups did not represent mainstream Jewish opinion was akin to saying trade unions did not represent majority views of their membership.
After the vote, Luciana Berger said: “It sends a strong signal that we adopt the IHRA definition in full, including all the specific examples it includes, and that any attempt to tinker, water down, or otherwise amend it must be resisted.”
She added: “The IHRA definition of antisemitism is the internationally-recognised document which defines and explains the ways hatred towards Jews is expressed.
Board of Deputies of British Jews President Marie van der Zyl and Jewish Leadership Council Chairman Jonathan Goldstein said: ”It is for Jews to determine for themselves what antisemitism is. The UK Jewish community has adopted in full the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Definition of Antisemitism, as have the British Government, Welsh Assembly, Scottish Parliament, 124 local authorities across the country and numerous governments around the world. It is impossible to understand why Labour refuses to align itself with this universal definition. Its actions only dilute the definition and further erode the existing lack of confidence that British Jews have in their sincerity to tackle antisemitism within the Labour movement.”
Labour’s national executive committee will meet Tuesday to vote on formally adopting a rewritten Labour version of the IHRA definition, that did not include the formal examples of antisemitism.