Language:
English
Year of publication:
2013
Titel der Quelle:
Journal for the Study of Antisemitism
Angaben zur Quelle:
5,1 (2013) 45-58
Keywords:
Livingstone, Ken
;
Antisemitism History 1945-
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
;
Anti-Zionism
;
Antisemitism History 1945-
Abstract:
Draws attention to the frequent misuse of the Holocaust and its imagery as a means to criticize Israel and Jews in present-day Britain. Among the main tropes of such misuse are comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, characterizing the Holocaust as a "moral lesson" for Jews rather than an evil perpetrated against them in the past, and dismissal of every complaint of antisemitism as an attempt to deflect criticism of Israel. Discusses two judgments made in England in 2013, the first concerning the statement made by MP David Ward after signing the Book of Remembrance in the House of Parliament on Holocaust Memorial Day, in which he equated Israel with Nazi Germany. He was accused of antisemitism, mainly by the Jewish community, but claimed that there was a powerful Jewish lobby trying to stifle criticism of Israel. The second case is the dismissal by the Employment Tribunal of the legal claim against the University and College Union submitted by Ronnie Fraser, who accused the UCU of discriminatory measures against Israel, unwillingness to consider complaints of antisemitism, and disawoval of the European Union's Working Definition of Antisemitism. Notes that, in its wholesale dismissal, the Tribunal made reference to Jewish suffering in the Holocaust. In order to explain the phenomenon, Klaff discusses works by lawyer David Seymour and sociologist Robert Fine.
URL:
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