After only adopting part of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, the U.K. Labour Party reversed its course and adopted the meaning in its entirety.
However, the Jewish community has been anything but fully satisfied due to party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s long antisemitic history.
Labour taking this step finally sounds “positive,” said Gideon Falter, chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism, but doing so “should never have been in question.”
“It is appalling that it has taken them until now, two years after the government adopted the definition, to finally accept something as basic as what constitutes antisemitism, albeit under duress,” he said.
The European Jewish Congress welcomed the move, but called for Labour to apply the IHRA standard and purge its anti-Semitic members.
“Now that the Labour Party has adopted the IHRA definition in full, it must be used to root out antisemitism because its adoption is only a first relatively small step and not an end in itself,” said EJC President Dr. Moshe Kantor, “If the Labour Party does not root out and punish all those who contravene the definition, then this will be meaningless and mere window-dressing.”
The World Jewish Congress echoed the aforementioned sentiments.
“Corbyn must now do everything in his power to ensure that all such cases are dealt with as a matter of priority,” said WJC CEO and executive vice president Robert Singer. “At a time of heightened populism and extremism in Europe and beyond, we have been disheartened to see a lack of leadership from a once well-respected party on this issue. We hope action will be forthcoming.”
