SWC: Latest UN Report Against International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Threatens Safety of Jews

November 2, 2022

A report submitted to the United National General Assembly on October 31, 2022 that calls for countries to stop adopting an approved standardized definition of anti-Semitism is an insidious attack on Jews, charged the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an official NGO at the UN for decades.  

On Monday, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Racism, E. Tendayi Achiume (pictured right) called on nations to suspend adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, which many experts call an effective tool in combatting anti-Semitism around the globe.

In her remarks, Achiume, whose mandate is supposed to deal with racism, said:  “I highlight the controversial status, divisive effects and negative human rights impacts of the IHRA working definition on anti-Semitism.”  

“This is a nonsensical sneak attack against Jews and Israel by yet another United Nations so-called ‘human rights committee,’“ declared Rabbi Abraham Cooper, SWC’s Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action.  “Special Rapporteur Achiume has cravenly overstepped her mandate and is trying to politicize an effective and accepted document that helps governments identify and combat anti-Semitism, which is spreading the globe like a plague. We call on the UN to reject this latest insidious attack on Jews.”

Rabbi Eric J. Greenberg, SWC’s Director of United Nations Relations and Strategic Partnerships noted that despite Achiume’s report, representatives of several member nations spoke out publicly to support adopting and using IHRA, including the United States, the European Union, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Romania and the United Kingdom.  He noted that the Simon Wiesenthal Center was instrumental in developing the IHRA working definition. 

“We commend these nations for standing up for what’s right and rejecting this mendacious report’s lies and manipulations,” he said. “We particularly note the comments of United States Public Delegate Andrew J. Weinstein, representing the U.S. Mission to the UN, who told the General Assembly that “the United States strongly supports the broadly accepted IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism and encourages other countries to embrace it as well.”   

At least 38 countries and many more institutions and local governments have adopted the IHRA working definition.  

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).