Petition details
Safeguard Palestinian Solidarity
Tower Hamlets Council, many councillors and our Mayor have
welcomed many visitors from Jenin in Palestine since the formation
of the Tower Hamlets Jenin Friendship Association in 2002.
We are concerned that on 19th September the Labour dominated
council passed, unopposed, a Conservative motion to adopt the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of
antisemitism, along with its highly controversial examples.
As the far-right grows in Europe and in Britain, it is vital we
stand against the poison of antisemitism and all forms of racism,
wherever they emerge.
However, some of the examples contained within the definition
adopted by the council may be used to prevent our community from
expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle
for equality and human rights. Moves to suppress solidarity have
been made by other London Councils.
This Petition ran from 02/10/2018 to 14/11/2018 and has now finished.
53 people signed this Petition.
Council response
Tower Hamlets Council voted unanimously to agree the IHRA
definition, and alt 11 accompanying examples, on 19h September
2018.
While I appreciate that there are strong views on this issue over
thirty countries, including the UK and twenty four El-J member
countries, have adopted the IHRA's definition of anti-Semitism
along with 130 councils across the UK, the Crown Prosecution
Service and the judiciary.
The petition asks us to amend a decision we took in September, in
effect to adopt a caveat to our adopted definition of
anti-Semitism. In my view, there can be no qualifications or
caveats to a definition of racism, particularly where they
specifically relate to a single group or country.
I deeply worry about what message it would send to apply a caveat
to a recognised definition of antiSemitism to reference the actions
of Israel, as the petition seeks to do.
It is entirely right and proper to criticise the actions of Israel,
and to show solidarity with the people of Palestine, but to do so
as a qualification to a definition of anti-Semitism would be wrong
in my view.
Mayor John Biggs