The IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) Definition of Antisemitism

In the spirit of the Stockholm Declaration that states: “With humanity still scarred by …antisemitism  and xenophobia the international community shares a solemn responsibility to fight those evils” the  committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial called the IHRA Plenary in Budapest 2015 to adopt  the following working definition of antisemitism.  

On 26 May 2016, the Plenary in Bucharest decided to:  

Adopt the following non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism: 

“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.”

To guide IHRA in its work, the following examples may serve as illustrations:  

Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish  collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be  regarded as antisemitic. Antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it  is often used to blame Jews for “why things go wrong.” It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms  and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.  

Contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the  religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:  

  • Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology  or an extremist view of religion.  
  • Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such  or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a  world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other  societal institutions.  
  • Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a  single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.  
  • Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the  Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices  during World War II (the Holocaust).  
  • Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.  ∙ 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, e.g., by claiming that the existence  of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.  
  • Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other  democratic nation.  
  • Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing  Jesus or blood libel) to characterize 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.  

Antisemitic acts are criminal when they are so defined by law (for example, denial of the Holocaust  or distribution of antisemitic materials in some countries).  

Criminal acts are antisemitic when the targets of attacks, whether they are people or property – such  as buildings, schools, places of worship and cemeteries – are selected because they are, or are perceived  to be, Jewish or linked to Jews.  

Antisemitic discrimination is the denial to Jews of opportunities or services available to others and is  illegal in many countries.