[rad-green] Jewish Group Applauds Montreal City Council for Abandoning Controversial Definition of Antisemitism

*https://www.ijvcanada.org/jewish-group-applauds-montreal-city-council-for-abandoning-controversial-definition-of-antisemitism/
<https://www.ijvcanada.org/jewish-group-applauds-montreal-city-council-for-abandoning-controversial-definition-of-antisemitism/>*

*Independent Jewish Voices Canada          January 28, 2020*

*Jewish Group Applauds Montreal City Council for Abandoning Controversial
Definition of Antisemitism*

*Montreal* – Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) applauds the Montreal
City Council for abandoning a motion to adopt the controversial *International
Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism*
<https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/working-definition-antisemitism>
 today.

The motion to adopt the definition was withdrawn this morning by opposition
leader Lionel Perez after the administration of Mayor Valérie Plante
decided to send the motion to La Commission de la présidence du conseil
(“The Commission of the Presidency of the Council”) for further study.

Montreal is the third Canadian city council to consider adopting the IHRA
definition after similar attempts failed last year in both Vancouver
<https://www.ijvcanada.org/vancouver-city-council-rejects-misguided-definition-of-antisemitism/>
 and Calgary <https://www.ijvcanada.org/calgary-antisemitism-motion/>. IJV
rallied significant grassroots opposition to all three motions. Over 300
IJV members and supporters sent letters to Montreal city councillors
regarding today’s motion, and several spoke last night at City Hall
renouncing it.

“This is another major victory for all who oppose antisemitism *and* support
Palestinian human rights,” said Corey Balsam, IJV’s National Coordinator.
“We strongly believe that our safety as Jews is intimately tied with the
safety and well-being of other communities targeted by hate and bigotry,
and that includes the Palestinian people. We congratulate the City of
Montreal for its decision to abandon the IHRA’s problematic definition and
strongly encourage other cities and provinces in Canada to follow suit.”

Opposition to the IHRA definition has become increasingly widespread around
the world, including in Quebec and throughout the rest of Canada. Kenneth
Stern, the original author of the definition now used by the IHRA, has
denounced
<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/13/antisemitism-executive-order-trump-chilling-effect>
the
fact that right-wing groups are weaponizing it in order to silence voices
for Palestinian human rights, including Jewish students and faculty. In
Canada, over 300 academics have so far signed an open letter
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1nl_R-b56NtWdf0v46KHWo6jOvSUBm_C707Fc8ibu0H4/edit>
denouncing
the IHRA definition, and cautioning against the effect it could have
<https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/canadas-new-definition-of-anti-semitism-is-a-threat-to-campus-free-speech/>
on
academic freedom. In Quebec, major trade unions such as the FTQ, CSN,
FNEEQ, as well as the Ligue des Droits et Libertés have all expressed their
support for dropping the IHRA definition.

IJV’s objections to the IHRA re-definition are detailed in its recent
*report*
<https://www.noihra.ca/uploads/1/2/5/8/125802458/ijv_ihrareport.pdf>, in
which it deconstructs the definition line by line and warns of the
dangerous consequences of its adoption both for the fight against
antisemitism and the movement for Palestinian human rights.

“The IHRA definition sadly betrays the post-Holocaust ethos of “never
again”, instrumentalizing the important fight against antisemitism to
silence those who advocate for Palestinian human rights, including Jews
themselves,” affirms Balsam. “IJV will continue to challenge the definition
at every level of government and at any other institutional body to which
it is proposed.”

Currently there is a private member’s bill before the Ontario legislature
<https://www.ijvcanada.org/ontario-parliamentarian-follows-in-trumps-footsteps-introduces-bill-equating-criticism-of-israel-with-antisemitism/>
that
would implement the IHRA definition in that province, and IJV will mobilize
opposition to that as well.

For more information, please see  <http://www.noihra.ca/>*www.noihra.ca*
<http://www.noihra.ca/>.

Contact:

Corey Balsam, IJV National Coordinator, [email protected], 514-437-2940

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