A group of over 200 academics and experts have introduced a new anti-Semitism definition known as the “Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism” which allows the criticism of Israel. The international scholars working in anti-Semitism studies and related fields, including Jewish, Holocaust, Israel, Palestine and Middle East Studies attested that the text issued by them benefited from consultation with legal scholars and members of civil society. Unlike the contested IHRA definition which institutionalises the persecution of organisations or persons that oppose apartheid or criticise the apartheid regime, the new definition preserves, to a large extent, the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Criticism of Zionism as a form of nationalism or arguing for a variety of constitutional arrangements for Jews and Palestinians in the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, is not considered anti-Semitic. Likewise it is not anti-Semitic to criticise Israel, “even if contentious” or to “to compare Israel with other historical cases, including settler-colonialism or apartheid”.
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