Defining Antisemitism

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An Overview

For thousands of years, antisemitism has plagued humanity. It occurs wherever there are Jewish people. Although different justifications have been given for antisemitism over time, the underlying features of this age-old hate have remained the same.

Throughout history, Jews have been derided as members of an inferior race or as adherents to a faith perceived to have negative characteristics. Often, these hate-filled views were used to promote conspiracy theories, such as the antisemitic blood libel, or to label Jews as malicious actors advancing a nefarious agenda.

In the second half of the 20th century, new forms of anti-Jewish hatred emerged. This included antisemitism centred around the denial, diminishment, and distortion of the Shoah. After Israel was established in 1948, hatemongers increasingly targeted Jews for the perceived ills of Zionism, holding all Jews responsible for the actions of the State of Israel. This hate-motivated distortion of Zionism often denied Jewish indigeneity to the Land of Israel, holding it to standards not expected of any other nation-state.

Today, this type of antisemitism continues to present itself as Holocaust inversion, in which undue comparisons are made between Nazis and Zionists and between Nazi Germany’s crimes and the actions and policies of the Israeli state. This prejudice also involves the denial or distortion of other atrocities against the Jewish people, including the prevalence of sexual violence during Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. The same hateful tropes once used to dehumanize Jews as Jews are increasingly used to target Zionists and/or the Jewish State. This bears resemblance to a “dog whistle” designed to obfuscate antisemitic motivations, disguising them under the cover of mere “anti-Zionism.”

The IHRA Definition

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism is globally recognized as the most complete, consensus-driven and contemporaneously relevant definition of antisemitism. It was adopted by the Government of Canada in 2019. The majority of Canada’s provinces have also adopted the definition, including Ontario (2020); Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan (2022); and Newfoundland and Labrador (2023).

‘The working definition is used by more than 1,000 entities around the world, including the European Union, the United Nations, and over 40 individual countries. It has been adopted by major universities, police departments, corporations, civil society organizations, and religious groups.

The IHRA defines antisemitism as: “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.”

To aid in the application of its definition, the IHRA provides a non-exhaustive list of 11 illustrative examples of how antisemitism can manifest:

  1. Calling for, aiding or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion;
  2. Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions;
  3. Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews;
  4. Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g., gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust);
  5. Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust;
  6. Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations;
  7. Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, (e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor);
  8. Applying double standards by requiring of the State of Israel behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nations;
  9. Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis;
  10. Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis and,
  11. Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the State of Israel.

The IHRA further clarifies that:

  • Antisemitic acts are criminal when they are so defined by law (e.g., denial of the Holocaust or distribution of antisemitic materials in some countries);

  • Criminal acts are antisemitic when the targets of attacks, whether they are people or property – such as buildings, schools, places of worship and cemeteries are selected because they are, or are perceived to be, Jewish or linked to Jews and,

  • Antisemitic discrimination is the denial to Jews of opportunities or services available to others, and is illegal in many countries.

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