The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance adopted a definition of what anti-Semitism means at their conference in Bucharest from May 23 to May 26.

Mihnea Constantinescu, IHRA’s chairman, said: “All IHRA member countries share concern that incidents of anti-Semitism are steadily rising and agree that IHRA’s member countries and indeed IHRA’s experts need political tools with which to fight this scourge. IHRA’s 31 member countries–24 of which are EU member countries–are committed to the Stockholm declaration and thereby to fighting the evil of anti-Semitism through coordinated international political action. … By adopting this working definition, the IHRA is setting an example of responsible conduct for other international fora and hopes to inspire them also to take action on a legally binding working definition.”

Mark Weitzman, chairman of IHRA’s committee on anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial which proposed the adoption of the definition in 2015, said: “In order to begin to address the problem of anti-Semitism, there must be clarity about what anti-Semitism actually is. This is not a simple question.”

The conference adopted the following definition of anti-Semitism which they called “legally non-binding”:

“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.”

In a long commentary to their new definition, IHRA also said:

“Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for “why things go wrong.” It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits. Contemporary examples of anti-Semitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to: … Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis… Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel…”