The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) is urging governments at all levels, universities, schools and other institutions to reject calls to adopt definitions of antisemitism, warning that the definitions currently being promoted entrench anti-Palestinian racism and threaten political expression.
APAN’s position applies to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition, the Universities Australia definition, the Nexus Definition and the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism.
Antisemitism, like every form of discrimination, bigotry and dehumanisation, must be addressed wherever it occurs. APAN argues that these definitions undermine that work. They frame criticism of Zionism or Israel as racist, erase Palestinian political and cultural knowledge, and provide a mechanism to surveil or punish people for speaking truthfully about Palestine, Palestinians, Zionism and Israel.
They can also be used to suppress protest rights and political advocacy, to deny the Nakba and Palestinian self-determination.
Nasser Mashni, APAN President,
“Institutions don’t need a special definition to fight antisemitism. In August, Justice Desmond Fagan of the NSW Supreme Court ruled that the IHRA definition, the one governments rely on to shut down protest and criminalise our words, is “detached from the reality of the common usage and understanding of antisemitism” and “so verbose and imprecise that it could not realistically be attributed to the ordinary, reasonably informed member of the Australian public”
Justice Fagan’s ruling exposes the discredited IHRA definition’s true purpose, it was never about eliminating antisemitism. It was always about silencing Palestine and those advocating for justice and accountability.
The best way to fight antisemitism is to treat all hate equally, to properly resource and fund the Australian Human Rights Commission, and adopt the National Anti-Racism Framework.
And if an institution insists on a definition, the standard dictionary definition is the only one it needs.”
APAN rejects the premise that separate definitions for different forms of racism are needed. Such definitions risk pitting communities against one another while obscuring the founding and primary racism faced by First Nations people in Australia. Addressing that racism and ongoing settler colonialism must be central to anti-racism work. The government’s own National Anti-Racism Framework does just that.
APAN also argues that the IHRA, Universities Australia, Nexus and Jerusalem Declaration definitions are not grounded in contemporary anti-racism scholarship or evidence-based practice. Their adoption would make the work of eliminating racism more difficult.
If an institution decides it must adopt a definition of antisemitism, APAN recommends a standard dictionary definition. Its clear recommendation, however, is that institutions do not adopt a separate definition.
APAN calls on institutions to confront antisemitism and all forms of racism through meaningful, evidence-based action, without silencing Palestinians or restricting advocacy for their rights.
ENDS