French city of Strasbourg, marked by anti-Jewish outrages, rejects IHRA definition of anti-Semitism at Council meeting
Members of the Council for the French city of Strasbourg voted this week to reject an internationally accepted definition of anti-Semitism adopted by dozens of governments and municipalities around the world, despite an upsurge in ugly anti-Semitic incidents in the same city over the past year.
In its Monday night meeting, the council’s main political force, the left-wing European Ecology Party (EELV), refused to endorse the International Alliance for the Memory of the Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism. ‘Holocaust (IHRA) adopted by 31 states around the world, including the United States. .
France adopted the IHRA definition in 2019 at the request of President Emmanuel Macron, when he declared in February of the same year that “anti-Semitism is killing people again in France” and expressed concern by the fact that the French authorities “did not know how to react effectively”.
According to Jean Werlen, a member of the Strasbourg council, the body’s objection to the IHRA’s definition stems from its inclusion of examples describing how the demonization of Israel and Zionism can be anti-Semitic.
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December 25, 2021 8:41 AM
“First, there is a Strasbourg tradition of never importing foreign conflicts into local religious communities,” Werlen – the council member responsible for the city’s places of worship – told the news magazine. Marianne Wednesday. “Second, it is out of the question to deny citizens the right to criticize a state, even a foreign one. We must condemn anti-Semitism, but we must be able to criticize a state, and this definition prohibits any criticism of the policies of the State of Israel.
the IHRA definition clearly states that “a criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be considered anti-Semitic,” while acknowledging that manifestations of anti-Semitism “could include the targeting of the State of Israel, conceived as a Jewish community ”.
A council member who voted in favor of adopting the IHRA definition said he was “appalled” by the decision, pointing out that Strasbourg had been plagued by anti-Semitic attacks over the past year.
“The city of Strasbourg needs this definition because there have been several notorious anti-Semitic acts in recent months,” opponent Pierre Jakubowicz said on Wednesday.
Among the incidents cited by Jakubowicz was the assault last August of a young Jewish graffiti artist who was working on a project commissioned by the city council. After his attacker spotted him wearing a T-shirt with the names of several cities around the world, including Tel Aviv in Israel, the artist was pushed around and showered with anti-Semitic abuse. The assailant then grabbed one of his paint cans and sprayed offensive slogans on the ground, including “forbidden to Jews” and “bitch.”
At a hearing in November 2020, the assailant – identified only as a 38-year-old man – was cleared of the crime of extortion aggravated by religious hatred and released.
Jakubowicz also highlighted the January scandal involving two drivers working for the food delivery service Deliveroo in Strasbourg, who refused to serve Jewish customers.
“To fight effectively against an evil, you must first know how to define it”, observes Jakubowicz. He also suggested that the real reason for the council’s rejection of the IHRA definition was “the fact that some members of the majority openly support boycott campaigns against Israel.”
Although the IHRA definition does not specifically mention the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, it does state that “applying double standards [to the State of Israel] by demanding behavior that is not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation ”may be anti-Semitic.
“We are the first democratic assembly of a European state to reject this definition,” stressed Jakubowicz. “This is the official definition of anti-Semitism adopted by 31 states, by the National Assembly, by the European Parliament with its seat in Strasbourg, by the Council of Paris and by the city of Nice. Each time it is offered, it is accepted, left and right.
The controversy over the rejection of the IHRA definition was compounded by a separate decision at the same council meeting to accept a donation from a Turkish Islamist organization for the construction of a new mosque in Strasbourg.
By a healthy 42-7 majority, the board acknowledged a $ 3 million donation from Millî Görüs, a Turkish diaspora organization with close ties to authoritarian Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The donation will finance about 10 percent of the bill for the construction of the Ayyub Sultan Mosque, with the rest of the funds being provided by the city itself.
The announcement sparked a furious reaction from French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who promoted a charter for Islamic community organizations in the country. Millî Görüs, who manages around 80 mosques across France, refused to endorse Darmanin’s document.
“The ‘green’ town hall of Strasbourg finances a mosque supported by a federation which refused to sign the charter of principles of Islam in France, and which defends political Islam”, commented with acidity Darmanin on Twitter.
The ninth largest city in France, Strasbourg is an important political and diplomatic center. One of the four capitals of the European Union, the city is home to the European Parliament and the EU Ombudsman’s office, as well as the headquarters of the Council of Europe, a human rights organization made up of from 47 Member States.