Dear Editor,
Re: “Council allies needed to fight antisemitism,” Letters, Dec. 22
In his Dec. 22 letter regarding Richmond city council and the decision to remove the IHRA definition of anti-semitism from council’s agenda, Michael Sachs implied the IHRA definition is uniformly accepted by all Jews.
More than 1,000 members of Independent Jewish Voices Canada, 650 members of the Jewish Faculty Network, 350 international Holocaust scholars, and even the drafter of the IHRA definition himself, Kenneth Stern, have all rejected the way this definition has been weaponized to stifle criticism of Israel and its atrocious human rights record.
Antisemitism must be fought, together with all other forms of racism and discrimination. But the IHRA definition of antisemitism was not designed to serve that purpose. Rather, it is being used to stifle criticism of Israel and suppress support for Palestinian human rights. This definition has been used in a frightening number of instances as a justification to cancel events, restrict free speech on campuses and intimidate faculty and students who want to openly discuss Israeli apartheid and its systematic abuse of Palestinian human rights.
Our communities must come together to fight racism and hate. We therefore applaud the tireless work Richmond community members have carried out in drafting the city’s anti-hate protocol and urge council to adopt it. This document provides a model for identifying and fighting all forms of hate and racism. Adopting the IHRA definition would fly in the face of the work that went into creating this admirable document.
Neil Naiman
CHAIR, INDEPENDENT JEWISH VOICES (VANCOUVER CHAPTER)
