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I agree with every word here.
The IHRA has become a symbol for the fight against antisemitism, which leads meany to underestimate its shortcomings.
The definition is especially wrong for universities, and will introduce confusion rather than clarity. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/02/the-government-should-not-impose-a-faulty-definition-of-antisemitism-on-universities
The IHRA has become a symbol for the fight against antisemitism, which leads meany to underestimate its shortcomings.
The definition is especially wrong for universities, and will introduce confusion rather than clarity. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/02/the-government-should-not-impose-a-faulty-definition-of-antisemitism-on-universities
The imposition of IHRA on universities will likely escalate campus wars, rather de-escalate them. We need to disaggregate the issue of antisemitism from Israel/Palestine, as much as possible. The EHRC report showed it can be done, but this move sends us in the wrong direction.
If you read Gavin Williamson's letter, the verb "demonstrate" repeats five times. This is the politics of symbolic gestures, rather that of substance. He makes no claim regarding the actual value of the IHRA for fighting antisemitism - because there is no such evidence.
Universities are not political parties and we should be careful not to make direct comparisons to the Labour party. But we know that Labour's adoption of the IHRA in 2018 made no difference whatsoever to the party's handling of antisemitism.
The government has not made IHRA legal, but it threatens universities which would not adopt it with sanctions. This is a very worrying intervention in academic freedom. But even when it is adopted, it has no legal status. This is a mess.
We need to think of antisemitism as a form of racism on campus, and treat it as such - not as some particular and unique predicament that requires a distinct handling. No other form of bigotry is tackled that way - and it would be impossible to issue definitions for all.
It is a problem that the recent disturbing report on racism in universities did not mention Antisemitism or Islamophobia. Bigotry and racism manifest differently but we know that the best way to tackle them is together.
https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/tackling-racial-harassment-in-higher-education.aspx
https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/tackling-racial-harassment-in-higher-education.aspx
And finally, a word to Jewish students, who feel that their complaints are not listened to: the problem is real. Antisemitism exists on campuses. Universities should do better. But this is a step in the wrong direction.
