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Palestine Solidarity Campaign director says IHRA definition 'drains antisemitism of any meaning'

Ben Jamal says: 'We need to oppose the conflation of antisemitism with legitimate criticism of Israel that is within the IHRA definition'

March 3, 2020 14:06
The CND's Kate Hudson
2 min read

The director of the controversial Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has claimed the internationally-recognised definition of anti-Jewish racism “drains antisemitism of any meaning”.

At a meeting of the Stop The War Coalition (StWC) and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in London, Ben Jamal also accused Israel of “coordinating a global campaign” that was “designed to frame activism for Palestine as something hostile, something extremist, as something antisemitic.”

Claiming the PSC was under “assault” for seeking to “challenge unjust structures of power” such as “Israel's maintenance of its system of apartheid over the Palestinian people,” Mr Jamal said the problem extended “way beyond Prevent,” the Government's anti-terrorism strategy the meeting was called to oppose.

He added: "We also need to oppose the conflation of antisemitism with legitimate criticism of Israel that is contained within the IHRA definition of antisemitism that not only seeks to prevent Palestinians bringing the facts of their dispossession and the continued oppression into the public domain, but also degrades coherent, anti racist politics by draining antisemitism of all meaning.”