he Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa welcomes the withdrawal of the hugely controversial resolution on anti-semitism
from the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting.
It is a victory for free speech and human rights.
PSNA looks forward to working with other organisations and human rights groups to develop a comprehensive anti-racism
resolution which can be passed unanimously by the council.
In case any media are unaware of the issues around the resolution we have pasted below the letter we sent to the mayor
and councillors on Saturday.
John Minto
National Chair
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa
22 February 2019
Andy Foster
Mayor
Wellington City Council
Wellington
Email: mayor@wcc.govt.nz
cc Wellington City Councillors
Kia ora Mr Foster,Re: Proposed resolution on antisemitism
I’m writing on behalf of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa which advocates for Palestinian human rights and
which is also strongly opposed to racism in all its forms – including anti-semitism.
Our members have protested against racist spray-painting attacks on Jewish graves and synagogues just as we have marched
in support of the Islamic community after the horrific events of March 15 last year.
However, there are serious problems with the proposed resolution and we are asking that it be withdrawn from the council
agenda and replaced by a resolution which condemns all racism such as islamophobia and white supremacism as well as
anti-semitism.
The problem with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-semitism, which is the focus of the
proposed resolution, is its use in many US states and some European countries to claim Palestinian human rights
activists are anti-semitic when they call for action against Israel until it complies with international law and United
Nations resolutions. It is being used as a weapon to deny free speech and freedom of political action to those standing
up for the victims of Israel’s brutal military occupation of Palestine and ongoing theft of Palestinian land.
The IHRA definition was always intended as a guideline for researchers, not as a prescription for a resolution or
legislation. The main drafter of the resolution, Kenneth Stern, has cautioned against its use in resolutions or
legislation and is quite emphatic that it must not be misused as is proposed in the Wellington City Council resolution.
Here is what he has to say on the IHRA Wikipedia page:
“The main drafter of the working definition and its examples, Kenneth S. Stern, cautioned against the free speech implications of its use as a legal tool.[26] He has opposed efforts to enshrine it in legislation[98] and wrote a letter to members of the US Congress warning that giving the definition legal status would be
"unconstitutional and unwise" in December 2016.[99] In 2011, he co-authored an article about how the 'Working Definition' was being abused in Title VI cases, because it
was being employed in an attempt to "restrict academic freedom and punish political speech." In November 2017, Stern
explained to the US House of Representatives that the definition has been abused on various US university campuses. He warned that it could "restrict academic
freedom and punish political speech" and questioned whether definitions created by minority groups should be
legislatively enshrined, giving as one of several examples.[26]
"Imagine a definition designed for Palestinians. If "Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, and
denying Israel the right to exist" is antisemitism, then shouldn't "Denying the Palestinian people their right to
self-determination, and denying Palestine the right to exist" be anti-Palestinianism? Would they then ask administrators
to police and possibly punish campus events by pro-Israel groups who oppose the two state solution, or claim the
Palestinian people are a myth?"[26]
He states that the definition was created "as a tool for data collectors in European countries to identify what to
include and exclude from their reports about antisemitism, and to have a common frame of reference so that data might be
compared across borders."[98] He "encouraged the Department of State's first Special Envoy for Antisemitism to promote the definition as an important
tool." He used it effectively as the framework for a report on global antisemitism. He added: "approaches to
antisemitism that endorse and promote academic freedom are more likely to work, in part because they underscore the
academy's goal of increasing knowledge and promoting critical thinking.... approaches that explain academic freedom away
or harm it will not only fail, they make the problem worse."[26]
We do not want the council to “make the problem worse” and pass a resolution which will be used to attack and demonise
those who stand up for international law and United Nations resolutions and work hard for Palestinian human rights.
For example the City Council in Munich, Germany, has used the IHRA definition of anti-semitism to condemn Palestinian
activists calling for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) against Israel and have denied the use of city council
facilities to Palestinian human rights organisations.
Palestinian activists here in Wellington have already faced attempts by pro-Israeli groups to deny them access to
facilities for meetings and events and last year a local school faced a determined attempt to stop me speaking after I
had been invited to do so with students at a lunchtime meeting using baseless claims that I was anti-semitic.
These pressures will increase dramatically if this resolution is passed as it is.
Meanwhile Jewish groups in New Zealand and around the world have spoken out strongly against the misuse of the IHRA
definition and in 2018 over 40 Jewish groups expressed their support for BDS and attacked attempts to equate calls for
boycotts of Israel with anti-semitism.
An open letter from these Jewish groups said in part:
“As social justice organizations from around the world, we write this letter with growing alarm regarding the targeting
of organizations that support Palestinian rights in general and the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, in particular. These attacks too often take the form of cynical and false accusations of antisemitism that
dangerously conflate anti-Jewish racism with opposition to Israel’s policies and system of occupation and apartheid”
Similar sentiments have come from Nobel Peace Prize winner and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu who says the world
should call out Israeli policies towards Palestinians as “apartheid” and implement a boycott of Israel. New Zealand has
a proud history of standing up in support of the struggle against South African apartheid and we must do the same
against Israeli apartheid.
It is surprising that none of this deep concern and controversy about the misuse of the IHRA definition of anti-semitism
was included in the council’s background paper on this resolution. It should have been.
It would be tragic if, on the back of the horrific events of March 15 last year, a resolution was passed by Wellington
City Council which will be used to deny freedom of speech to members of the Islamic community in Wellington and New
Zealand, some of whom are Palestinians, when they speak out against Israeli apartheid.
It would be a dark day for democracy, free speech and human rights if the resolution is passed as it currently stands.
It would put the council on the wrong side of history.
We therefore respectfully request that the resolution be withdrawn.
We would be very happy to work with the Jewish Council, the Islamic community and other minority groups on a resolution
which condemns the poison of racism in all its forms and calls for community solidarity as the best way to protect all
of us.
In solidarity against racism.
Nga mihi mahana,
John Minto
National Chair
PSNA