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March 2021

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According to the new Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, hostility to Israel “…could be the emotion that a Palestinian person feels on account of their experience at the hands of the State.” This, the sole appearance of the word “emotion” in the entire document, is applied exclusively to the direct victims of Israeli crimes, the very people who have the most fact-based, lived-experience for entirely rational “hostility” to the state. Categorizing the Palestinian response as emotional is to deny Palestinians the dignity to simply demand to be free of their shackles.

Pro-Jeremy Corbyn protestors gather outside Labour Party headquarters ahead of a National Executive Committee meeting on whether to adopt, in full, the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of antisemitism. (Photo credit: Ben Cawthra/Sipa USA)

A group of over 200 Jewish scholars have released a definition of antisemitism in a direct response to the contentious International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which included some criticisms of Israel. While many Palestine activists are applauding the new Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism for taking on the IHRA, they’re also pointing to problems with its framing and voicing concerns over its potential impact.

Palestinian workers at the Tayba checkpoint (Photo: The Palestine New Federation of Trade Unions)

Adalah Justice Project’s Sumaya Awad interviews Manal Shqair on the role of the Palestinian labor organizing in the liberation movement. “Dismantling of the Israeli settlement enterprise means that we Palestinians will be able to reclaim our land and natural resources. This, of course, will put an end to the exploitation of Palestinian workers by their Israeli employers,” Shqair explains.