The West Coast Coalition Against Racism (WC-CARS) strongly opposes the IHRA
definition of anti-Semitism and its 11 examples. We consider the definition to be
both diversionary and racist. We follow in the long and proud tradition of our
communities in being anti-racist, supporting the oppressed and defending free
speech.
We believe that the purpose of enacting the IHRA definition is to divert attention
from the Zionist racism practiced by the state of Israel against the indigenous
people of Palestine, and from Israeli supremacism as recently documented by the
human rights group B’Tselem . When accused by supporters of Israel of being
anti-Semitic, Amnesty International stated that such an accusation is used “with
the purpose of derailing public debate from the real issue, which is war crimes
and other human rights abuses of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.”
Seven out of the eleven examples in the definition refer to Israel; it is clear that
the objective of those who use the IHRA definition is to curb criticism of Israel's
brutal practices, not to fight anti-Semitism. The definition serves to conflate Israel
with Jews and Judaism. By doing so, it implicates all Jews in Israeli atrocities and
war crimes , which in itself promotes anti-Semitism.
While we condemn the genocidal and racist practices inherit in any supremacist
settler colonialist project, we believe it is immoral, racist and unconscionable to
justify the ills of such projects on religious grounds. This is true for settler
colonialists in Palestine, where Judaism was used as a cover for war crimes, and
for the settler colonialists in Turtle Island, where Christianity was used as a cover
for genocide.
The IHRA definition also aims to suppress the Palestinian narrative and to deny
the Palestinians the right of exposing Israeli Apartheid and the genocide that has
been committed against them.
We condemn the Canadian government’s delegitimization and criminalization of
the Palestinian struggle for liberation through its adopting of the IHRA definition
and through listing Palestinian resistance organizations on its so-called “ Terrorist
List ”. These practices amount to institutional racism against the Palestinian
people.
We applaud and support all organizations that have publicly opposed and
denounced the IHRA definition including Independent Jewish Voices Canada, the
BC Civil Liberties Association and Canada Palestine Association .
Finally, we in WCCARS commit ourselves to fight racism in all its forms, including
Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-Black, anti-Indigenous and anti-Asian. We also
commit ourselves to fighting all forms of exploitation, colonialism, settler
colonialism, neocolonialism and imperialism, and accordingly support all liberation
movements that fight against foreign domination of their natural resources and
for the freedom, equality and dignity of their people.