Sydney’s Waverley Council has endorsed and formally adopted in the full the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, including all IHRA examples of antisemitic behaviour in contemporary life.
It follows a Notice of Motion put forward at the November Council meeting.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism begins as follows:
‘Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.’
Contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:
- Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion
- making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions
- accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews
- denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).
A spokesperson for Waverley Council said adoption of the IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism was an important tool in recognising and combating manifestations of the racism.
“There is no room for antisemitism or racism of any kind and we are very pleased that Waverley Council is leading the way in not only fighting antisemitism but anti racism generally,” the spokesperson said.
“Our recently launched Cultural Diversity Strategy puts fighting discrimination of this nature front and centre.”
