Over of the course of the past six years, more than 800 entities around the world have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, according to a new report.
The report, based on research by the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University and the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement (CAM), shows that 865 international organizations, governments, municipalities, NGOs, universities, athletic clubs, corporations and other groups have embraced the definition since May 2016, when it was adopted unanimously by IHRA’s 31 member states.
The report reveals that in 2021 alone, 200 entities adopted or endorsed the definition worldwide, and since the start of this year, 2o others have done so.
“Th[is] spate ... demonstrates clearly that there is already a steady consensus ... created by academics, experts and activists, so we hope more and more countries and entities will join this year,” said Kantor Center founding director Dina Porat, an academic adviser of Yad Vashem, in a statement.
“It is clear that with the marked increase in anti-Semitism, especially in recent years, there is a need for a universally accepted definition of anti-Semitism,” said CAM CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa. “We need to clearly delineate the borders of hate and incitement against Jews, because for too long it is the anti-Semites themselves who have defined them, and no other community would accept such a disturbing situation.”
According to the Kantor Center and CAM, “Overall, 37 countries, including most Western democracies, have adopted the definition—28 IHRA member states, four IHRA observer states and five nations unaffiliated with the IHRA. Following nations such as the United States, Canada, Germany, Britain and France, among other previous adoptees, the newest additions to this group in 2021 were Australia, Estonia, Guatemala, Poland, South Korea and Switzerland, followed by the Philippines in 2022.
“In addition, 320 non-federal government entities (including regional, provincial, state, county, and municipal bodies) have adopted the definition, with 39 doing so in 2021, and 13 so far in 2022. In Europe, this has included major national capitals, such as London, Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Vienna.”
