Israel Welcomes Global Imams Council’s Adoption of Int’l Definition of Anti-Semitism

By: TPS

Israel welcomed “the important step” taken by the Global Imams Council (GIC) in adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.

The GIC, the largest international group of Muslim leaders, adopted last week the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism.

An overwhelming majority of its some 1,000 voted in favor of the resolution.

The GIC is the first Imams Council in the world to adopt the IHRA Working Definition of anti-Semitism.

The GIC is “determined to strengthen the bridges of peace between Islam and all religions. We respect the beliefs and emotions of all people, and this is what makes us different from the Islamist extremists who have tarnished the image of our religion,” stated GIC President Imam al-Budairi.

“Religious leadership has an important role to play in marking a path for its believers, and the GIC leads the way in the struggle against antisemitism and in the building of bridges of peace and coexistence,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry stated.

Israel thanked Elan Carr, the US Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating anti-Semitism, for “his crucial contribution and his work to advance the struggle against anti-Semitism.”

The IHRA has 34 member countries and seven observer countries. Acceptance to the IHRA depends on the counties’ adherence to the Stockholm Declaration on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research of January 28, 2000, as well as several other conditions.

The IHRA adopted in 2016 the working-definition of anti-Semitism, according to which anti-Semitism is “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

The IHRA states that anti-Semitic examples include denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor, comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and leveling accusations against Jewish citizens of various countries that they are more loyal to Israel than to their own countries.

The GIC joins the United Kingdom, Austria, Scotland, Romania, Canada, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Moldova, Macedonia, the US, Greece, Belgium, Slovenia, Sweden, Holland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxemburg, France, Cyprus, Italy, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Serbia and Argentina, Kosovo, Albania and Spain.

(TPS)