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UCL academic board calls on university to 'replace' IHRA

Jewish students respond that 'deeply flawed' decision is only a recommendation 'and does not change the status of the IHRA definition at UCL'

February 14, 2021 12:49
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1 min read

The academic board at University College London has rejected the use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which the university had adopted.

The vote by UCL’s academic board called on the university to “replace IHRA working definition with a more precise definition of antisemitism”. The university’s governing body will now review its position.

In a report published in December, a group of UCL academics argued that the IHRA definition conflated anti-Jewish prejudice with political debate over Israel and Palestine, resulting in “potentially deleterious effects on free speech, such as instigating a culture of fear or self-silencing on teaching or research or classroom discussion of contentious topics”.

The group claimed the working definition was not “fit for purpose within a university setting” and that there was “disturbing evidence” that antisemitic incidents had continued on campus.