Or, how a report meant to tackle antisemitism becomes an enabler of antisemitism
What is the Working Party report, and why does it matter?
In 2019 UCL, along with many other universities and other public and private institutions, adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. However, this year there was a pushback from some academics represented on UCL’s Academic Board (the advisory body which represents the academics at the institution). The AB set up a working group to examine the issue and report back. The report is available here.
From the start there were problems with the Working Group (WG) which caused intense unease among campaigners against antisemitism…
It might seem that there’s very little more that can be said about the so-called ‘culture wars’ of our time. However, I believe that the nature of what is happening at the moment has been misunderstood or misrepresented by people on both sides of the battle.
The problem is that the issue has been framed, in my view wrongly, as a dispute between ‘social liberals’ and ‘social conservatives’. …
Harry Goldstein
Reform Jew and supporter of Israel. Liberal centre-leftist. Help run North London Friends of Israel.
