Decision-makers at Bexley Council are set to adopt the internationally recognised definition of anti-Semitism in a bid to better understand and challenge hate crimes.

It comes amid a national rise of “casual anti-Semitism”, with officers at Bexley Council suggesting the definition be taken on board to reaffirm the council’s equal treatment of all Bexley communities.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) brings together

governments and experts to promote Holocaust education and remembrance.

MORE - Bexley councillors blast 'vile' hate crimes since Brexit vote

The IHRA’s definition of 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.”

Councillors in Bexley are expected to adopt the definition at a meeting next week.

Officers said in a new report: “The definition adopted by IHRA was expressly non-legally-binding but is intended, along with the working examples, to assist the council to confront the challenge of anti-Semitism and demonstrate the seriousness with which the council treats all forms of hate crime.

“Adoption of the definition of anti-Semitism and the working examples demonstrates the council’s commitment to equal treatment for all sections of our community and in particular the fair and equal treatment of Jews.”

Bexley Council Bexley Council

The Government and the Crown Prosecution Service are among the major groups to have adopted the definition recognised by the IHRA.

Anti-Semitism has been on the rise nationally, with the Community Security Trust recording just under 730 incidents in the first six months of 2018 – the second highest figure in more than two decades.

In Bexley, the Met has one recorded anti-Semitic offence in the last two years.

What is anti-Semitisim? 

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 a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.

• Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power 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 societal institutions.

• Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.