Why we should drop the IHRA definition of antisemitism
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) adopted a working definition of antisemitism in 2016. In October 2020, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson tried to impose this definition on universities, threatening their funding if they refused. This intimidation is part of the reason why 85 British higher education institutions have adopted it to date. Nevertheless, the IHRA definition remains severely problematic, and should be abandoned by both universities and the government.
The 38-word definition is vague, and in full reads:
‘Antisemitism is 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.’
THE University and College Union (UCU) launched its Recognition Now campaign at Cambridge University today as it fights for the right to defend its members.
UCU slammed the institution for being the only public university not to engage with it after UCU Cambridge members rejected a deal which would have led to bosses conceding only partial recognition of the education union.
The dispute comes as hundreds of casualised Cambridge University academics demand fair pay and conditions from the cash-rich institution which has combined assets worth more than £11 billion.
Nearly 350 supervisors of students at the university’s 31 colleges have petitioned senior college representatives, after the UCU warned many lack proper contracts and are paid poverty wages.
Woke universities are supporting sex work for their students dailymail.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymail.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
CW:// This article includes detailed mentions of mental health difficulties and the university’s return policy, alongside brief mentions of racial harassment, transphobia and homophobia.
The end of Michaelmas 2020 and my first term at Cambridge complete. It hadn’t been the first term I had been expecting by any means: Covid having robbed me of a proper freshers experience, and my friendship group limited to the people I had randomly been accommodated with.
Whilst Covid restrictions allowed it, a friend visited for a day trip in the week after term had finished. His reaction to the city was eye-opening to me. It was like seeing it for the first time again – he reminded me of the beauty around every corner, the magical feeling of the city, the wonder of the striking facades of King’s Parade and Trinity. It felt like it had been so long since I had seen these iconic sights. I had become numb to them. Worse, I had come to hate them, or at least what they represented.
Jordan Peterson Explains Why Climate Activists Like Greta Thunberg May Be Wrong
These days, climate change is being blamed for various ‘extreme weather events’ – from storms, to hurricanes, and forest fires. As a result, an endless stream of wild, alarmist claims are being made in the mainstream media every day attributing the cause-and-effect of the man-made global warming theory to almost anything.
Some climate activists have taken it further, claiming that man-made CO2 has already triggered the mass extinction of humanity. Swedish activist
Greta Thunberg said at a UN panel in 2019:
“You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”