The groups are targeting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.
Left-wing groups are reportedly lobbying the White House to water down its official definition of antisemitism, as the Biden administration prepares to release a major strategy report on combating anti-Jewish bigotry.
J Street, Americans for Peace Now, and other left-wing activists are pushing Biden officials to exclude the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism from its designation, Jewish Insider reported last week. Contrary to the left-wing activists, the IHRA deems some anti-Israel rhetoric—such as equating Israel to Nazi Germany and denying the legitimacy of a Jewish homeland—antisemitic.
Mainstream Jewish groups, such as the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and pro-Israel lawmakers from both parties are urging the White House to adopt the language from the IHRA, of which the United States is a member. The IHRA working definition, which was published in 2016, is used by the U.S. State Department.
Americans for Peace Now leader Hadar Susskind said, in a statement to Jewish Insider, the Biden administration report shouldn’t “endorse or adopt” any definitions of antisemitism “because I don’t think that’s useful.”
J Street’s president Dylan Williams denounced the IHRA definition as “controversial” and said it “focuses disproportionately on criticism of Israel” and “does a disservice to Jewish Americans targeted by this hatred,” Jewish Insider reported.
The White House strategy report on antisemitism could be released as soon as the end of the month.
Source - The Washington Free Beacon