In recent weeks there have been difficult exchanges among blogging Methodists about the meaning of terms such as "discriminatory", "anti-Jewish", "racist", "anti-Semitism", and associated words such as "Holocaust denial", "supersessionism" and "Zionism".
Several Methodist bloggers have rushed to publish (even a petition) with angry denials that anything said or done within British Methodism could be remotely anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish.
These difficulties have arisen out of a report and resolutions laid before the 2010 Methodist Confernce in June 2010 which purported to outline a road to peace between Israel and Palestine.
Before the report was debated the British Jewish Board of Deputies expressed serious concern about the report, especially those parts of it which claimed to look at the theological issues which included supersessionism "a theological approach that it acknowledges has led to some of the worst excesses of Christian antisemitism."
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights predecessor committee the EUMC devised a draft working defintion of "anti-Semitism" in 2004. This, for the time being, is the nearest we have to a legal definition. It makes interesting reading for Methodists. It is reproduced here in full:
EUMC: Working definition of anti-Semitism
EUMC: Working definition of anti-Semitism
The purpose of this document is to provide a practical guide for identifying incidents, collecting data, and supporting the implementation and enforcement of legislation dealing with anti-Semitism.
Working definition:
Working definition:
“Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
In addition, such manifestations could also target the state ofIsrael
In addition, such manifestations could also target the state of
Contemporary examples of anti-Semitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:
- Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
- Making mendacious dehumanising, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the powers of Jews as collective – such as, especially, but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government, or other social institutions.
- Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by non-Jews.
- Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (eg gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide at the hands of the National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).
- Accusing the Jews as a people, or
- Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to
Examples of the ways in which anti-Semitism manifests itself with regard to the state of Israel
- Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
- Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
- Using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize
- Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
- Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the State of Israel.
However, criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic.
Anti-Semitic acts are criminal when they are defined by law (for example, denial of the Holocaust or distribution of anti-Semitic materials in some countries).
Criminal acts are anti-Semitic when the targets of attacks, whether they are people or property – such as buildings, schools, places of worship and cemeteries – are selected because they are or are perceived to be Jewish or linked to Jews.
Anti – Semitic discrimination is the denial of Jews the opportunities or services to others and is illegal in many countries,
This is copied from the official pdf and may contain errors and omissions. The official pdf can be found here.
Apologies for the variation in type. This is due to html errors
