Remember the outrage in 2018 when Labour’s NEC dared to think that some commentary and guidance around the #IHRA and how to conduct a disciplinary process on antisemitism might be helpful? At the time @CST_UK @BoardofDeputies etc went into meltdown. But now, silence reigns. 1/10
You may also recall the letter to the Guardian from 68 rabbis, miraculously all agreeing on the virtues of IHRA. Surely the first rabbinical consensus on a Jewish text in several hundred years!
2/10
theguardian.com/politics/2018/…
We shouldn’t be surprised that Labour has continued to use the 2018 code and guidance. After all, IHRA was never written or designed to be a standalone tool for discipline hearings. It was developed as a resource to aid academic study, and not considered definitive. 3/10
But from 2016 @BoardofDeputies etc decided it should be treated as the ‘gold standard’ for understanding antisemitism. Why? Because it usefully blurred antisemitism and anti-Zionism. 4/10
And, after knocking around for more than a decade, the definition had ‘helpfully’ been harnessed to an international Holocaust body to add to its political standing and ethical gravitas. 5/10
Fast forward to 2021 and there’s now no excuse for not being aware of the antagonism and divisiveness the IHRA has caused. There’s no doubt of its harm for Palestinian solidarity, but it’s pretty rubbish for Jews too 6/10

patheos.com/blogs/writingf…
Thanks to @JVoiceLabour, it’s been known for several weeks that the 2018 NEC code continues to be used as part of discipline procedures on antisemitism. Yet, there’s been no public reaction from @CST_UK or @BoardofDeputies or @antisemitism etc or indeed any of the 68 rabbis 7/10
Is this because they don’t want to create a huge confrontation with @Keir_Starmer in the way they undoubtedly did with @jeremycorbyn ? In which case, what was the real issue in 2018? Antisemitism? Anti-Zionism? Anti-Corbynism? All three? 8/10
We now have a much better definition of antisemitism....this time harnessed to Jerusalem rather than the Holocaust! The 200 Jewish academics behind the new JDA have more intellectual heft than writers of the IHRA - that’s for sure 9/10

jerusalemdeclaration.org
Sadly, I doubt @Keir_Starmer will be willing (or politically able) to trade in his existing broken definition for this much improved model. But it’s not just the IHRA that’s unfit for purpose. Our whole debate on antisemitism has become toxic. And that’s the real tragedy. 10/10

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More from @RobertCohen2

1 Dec 19
THREAD: 1/ A plea for Jewish common sense. Some people fight antisemitism by building alliances with other minorities and learning how discrimination plays out in multiple ways. These people are right. Others fight antisemitism by defending Zionism. These people are wrong.
2/ The Campaign Against Antisemitism @antisemitism was set up in August 2014, following Israel’s assault on Gaza which left more than 2,000 Palestinians dead (including more than 500 children) and more than 10,000 injured. 67 Israeli soldiers were killed & 7 Israeli civilians.
3/ Rather than consider the root causes of the deaths, like why so many Palestinians are crammed into a tiny strip in the first place, or examining the impact of 100 yrs of Zionism on Palestinian rights, @antisemitism chose to focus on growing hostility towards Israel in the UK.
Read 13 tweets
7 Nov 19
To my fellow British citizens, please don’t allow @JewishChron to hijack the British General Election and turn it into a referendum on Labour and #antisemitism. This paper has run a campaign of smears and vilification against Corbyn since 2015...1/7
...along with @BoardofDeputies and @JLC_uk and @antisemitism and others, it has missed no opportunity to present Corbyn’s Labour as toxic and unredeemable. While antisemitism undoubtedly exists on the left there has been no evidence to prove it is anything but small scale...2/7
...Labour has not ignored the problem of A/S, as @JewishChron claims, it has acted on it. But it has become clear that this anti-Corbyn campaign is about ‘regime change’ not reform...3/7
Read 7 tweets
8 Jul 19
THREAD:

Good morning Alex, @alexsobel

For you to describe my original headline and article from July 2018 as “Grade A racism” shows the mess and muddle we have got ourselves into when it comes to understanding antisemitism in this country.
Here’s the link to the article for you patheos.com/blogs/writingf…
Context, as even the #IHRA document points out, is important. So here’s the context.
Read 14 tweets
3 Sep 18
THREAD: IN A CRITICAL WEEK FOR LABOUR AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN BRITAIN, HERE’S MY TEN QUESTIONS TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF DEPUTIES - MARIE VAN DER ZYL @BoardofDeputies @BoDPres
1. Why are you ignoring the Jewish academic experts, notably: David Feldman, Brian Klug, Tony Lerman, who have all made critical studies of the IHRA document and found it inadequate and unhelpful in numerous ways?
2. Why are you ignoring the concerns expressed by the author of the IHRA definition and its illustrations, Kenneth Stern, who has said the document is already being used around the world to chill free speech?
Read 13 tweets

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