On October 31, The federal government’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, Deborah Lyons, released a handbook guide on the enacting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. Far from a Halloween prank, this ghoulish handbook serves to suppress the growing movement for Palestinian liberation in Canada under the guise of protecting against antisemitism and honouring the holocaust. Yet under this handbook, myself and many other members of the Jewish community are at risk of serious consequences for our critiques of Israel. The handbook not only fails to protect Canadian Jews against antisemitism, but actually further serves to isolate and exceptionalize Jewish communities.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is a inter-governmental organization formed in 1998 for the purpose of remembering the holocaust. Particularly as the grandchild of a holocaust survivor, I think this is a noble and unproblematic goal. As part of fulfilling this goal, the IHRA proposed the following working definition of antisemitism in 2016: “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.”
In and of itself, the definition is also quite innocuous. But in its examples of what might constitute antisemitism, this definition suddenly equates critique of Israel with antisemitism. Because of these examples, groups like Independent Jewish Voices and Centre for Justice and Peace in the Middle East have fought this definition’s adoption in Canada for many years.
In addition to challenging the equation of antizionism with antisemitism, this federal handbook suggests that Jews in Canada are somehow special and entitled to different protections than any other identity group in Canada. While Canada has an anti-racism strategy, there is no special envoy for anti-Indigenous racism and no handbook on definitions of anti-Black racism. Canada has appointed a Special Representative on combatting Islamophobia, yet her webpage features no definitions, handbooks, or statements.
The handbook’s forward notes, “Antisemitism is described as the world’s “oldest hatred,” having existed in various forms for thousands of years. It is also known as the “canary in the coal-mine” for all forms of hatred and intolerance. In other words, antisemitism often leads to and intersects with other forms of prejudice and hate.” At a time when more and more Canadian Jews are calling for safety through solidarity and combatting all forms of white supremacy and fascism, Canada has instead declared us the chosen people.
Despite purporting to end “the world’s oldest hatred”, this handbook harms Jews by conflating Jewish people and the State of Israel. With Israel committing a genocide in Gaza for nearly 400 days, associating me with this maniacal regime put me at greater risk of experiencing harm in a society where people are rightly very upset at our government’s inaction. As many of us in the Jewish community have shouted that Israel does not speak for us, the handbook assumes all Jews must think the same way about the most controversial issue in our contemporary history.
As though telling me what to think and claiming I love genocidal countries was not bad enough, this handbook seeks to criminalize and punish me and every other member of Jews Say No to Genocide. The name of our group alone violates the IHRA definition and could be deemed an antisemitic hate group. This definition also calls me antisemitic for describing how my family’s experience of a holocaust has prompted me to not want to commit one myself. Indeed, it is no far stretch under the IHRA to claim rabble is a hotbed of antisemitism for publishing this piece. These claims of antisemitism against anti-Zionist Jews helps de-legitimize their Jewish identity in public discourse to preserve the façade of monolithic Jewish opinion. To me, that seems far more antisemitic than me saying the phrase ‘never again’ at a Palestine rally.
As repression against the Palestinian liberation movement in Canada continues to intensify, this handbook serves as yet another tool for curtailing our right to protest and speak out against the atrocities Israel is committing. As charges from the past year against protestors in Toronto are being dropped, the state is seeking new and creative ways to criminalize Palestinian solidarity. Hiding behind the same excuse used to found the State of Israel, the IHRA definition of antisemitism and the newly released handbook are merely another tool for distraction and repression.
Over a year into what many are calling a second nakba (Arabic for catastrophe), the public is no longer willing to take these claims of antisemitism at face value and cease their criticism of Israel. For those of us actually seeking to build safety for members of the Jewish community here in Canada, we must stand against this handbook and its implementation. We must demand a Special Envoy at Antisemitism that considers all members of the Jewish community and seeks to fight all forms of oppression.
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Nick Seebruch, editor
