Labour has rejected the EU’s definition of antisemitism. This is morally wrong – and politically foolish

Jewish Labour MPs are upset and rightly so. They above all know as victims of social media anti-Jewish hate what is at stake

Ten years ago, I published a book called Globalising Hatred: the New Antisemitism. It grew out of a House of Commons all-party committee inquiry into antisemitism I set up and chaired in 2005. It was around the same time concerns grew about the rise of Iranian government-sponsored Holocaust denial conferences and the right of Jewish people to have a tiny corner of the world in which they could live free of fear behind the agreed borders the state of Israel accepted in 1949.

Britain had refused to allow Jewish refugees to enter the UK in the 1930s and the UK’s first ever immigration law – the Aliens Act of 1905 – was designed expressly to limit the number of Jews entering the UK fleeing the persecution of Catholic and orthodox nations in east Europe.

There is a tendency to link Israel exclusively with the Nazi Holocaust, but anti-Jewish prejudice (and worse) was deep-rooted in many Catholic, Protestant and orthodox Christian states.

Flash forward 70 years and Israel is still not recognised by its neighbours. Jews in European countries – notably France – are still targeted for hate attacks and killings, such as the murder of 85-year-old Mireille Knoll in Paris in March.

In the past, antisemitic language was the reserve of sad, bad men writing scruffy pamphlets which could be torn up and thrown away. Now and then a Jean-Marie Le Pen type would make a crude anti-Jewish remark on television, but they could be ignored.

Today, social media and the sustained organised campaigns by Islamist ideologues in many countries makes life unpleasant and fearful for Jews again.

Ten years ago, while chairing a balanced all-party Commons committee, I received death threats sufficient for the police to investigate. Lunching with one prominent Tory grandee MP when Ken Livingstone, then Mayor of London, made unpleasant and antisemitic remarks about a Jewish journalist, Oliver Finegold, I asked my MP friend if he thought Livingstone should apologise.

“Don’t be silly, Denis,” boomed the Tory grandee. “The Hebes are getting far to big for their boots”. I was shocked but not surprised, as I had heard that kind of remark about Jews all my political life.

The work across Europe by politicians of all parties continued culminating a universally agreed definition of antisemitism set out after years of work by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) which has been endorsed by the European Parliament, EU member states and Labour’s sister parties in Europe as well as by the Crown Prosecution Service in England.

It states as antisemitic:

· Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.

· Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, eg, by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour.

· Applying double standards by requiring of it a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.

· Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (eg, claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterise Israel or Israelis.

· Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

· Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel

The core principle is the one that was expressed in the McPherson report into the killing of Stephen Lawrence in 1993. McPherson insisted that racism should be defined by the victim, not the perpetrator. In other words, it is the victim of racist (or antisemitic) words and behaviour who has the right to say this is unacceptable and must stop.

Now the Labour Party’s National Executive Council (NEC) has undone all the work since the beginning of the century to seriously combat anti-semitism. It accepts some of the IHRA definition points but then adds its own tendentious, rambling and historically inaccurate arguments about Israel and Zionism.

This is a major opportunity missed by the Labour NEC. Labour Jewish MPs are upset and rightly so. They above all know as victims of social media anti-Jewish hate what is at stake. Every Jewish leader from Harold Wilson to Ed Miliband has been friendly to British Jews, but while criticising unacceptable behaviour by the current Israeli government, have given not the slightest hint of succour to the global Islamist campaign to portray Israeli Jews as new Nazis and without the right to nationhood.

In the local council elections in May, I was doing my Labour duty campaigning in London on a Saturday morning. A polite middle-aged man stopped, looked at the Labour stall and said sadly: “I can’t vote Labour. I’m Jewish”.

Denis MacShane was a Labour MP for 18 years and was Minister for Europe under Tony Blair. His latest book is Brexit, No Exit. Why (in the End) Britain Won’t Leave Europe (IB Tauris). His book Globalising Hatred. The New Anti-Semitism was published in 2008.