Helen Marks, a Jewish resident in Liverpool, and
secretary of Liverpool Friends of Palestine, was originally granted a three-
minute speaking slot to address Liverpool council, to urge the council to call
for an immediate ceasefire and peace deal in Gaza in order to find a solution
to the endless cycle of violence in the region.
Following a relentless bombing campaign by the
Israeli's who have bombed homes, hospitals, and schools, some 15,000 people
have been killed, including over 5,500 children. After being given permission
to speak, Helen Marks was asked to submit her speech to the council who then
wrote to tell her that she wouldn't be able to address the council.
Daniel Fenwick, the council's City Solicitor, told
her that her speech would breach the IHRA definition of antisemitism which had
been adopted by Liverpool council in January 2018. Fenwick also told her that
while it was legitimate freedom of expression to criticize the Israeli
government's policies and actions in Gaza, her statement was likely to be
offensive to the Jewish community and "others
in the city and beyond." She was also told that her statement which
referred to the dehumanising of the Palestinian people by the Israeli's and
Amnesty International's description of Israel as an "Apartheid state", would not foster good relations between
Jews, Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims.
Although Liverpool council have adopted the IHRA definition
of antisemitism, the definition is not legally binding and has no basis in
English law, even though the British Conservative government have adopted it
and the Labour Party. The prominent human rights lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson QC,
gave a legal opinion on the IHRA definition of antisemitism to a group of
NGO's. He said: "The IHRA definition
is unclear and confusing (it could be suggested, in fact, that it is
calculatedly misleading), that the government's adoption of it has no legal
status, and that the overriding legal duty of public authorities is to preserve
freedom of expression..."
Stephen Sedley, a former Court of Appeal judge, has
said that the IHRA definition of antisemitism fails the test of any definition
because it is indefinite and that policy is not law, but is required to operate
within the law. The 1998 Human Rights Act, makes it unlawful for a public
authority to act incompatibly with rights that include the right to freedom of
expression under article 10 of the European Convention. The right is not
absolute or unqualified and it can be restricted where it is lawful to do so,
proportionate, and necessary, in the interest of public safety, the prevention
of disorder, or the protection of the rights of others. However, as Stephen
Sedley points out, "These
qualifications do not include a right not to be offended."
Some people might wonder why an intergovernmental
body called the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) needed to
adopt a "non-legally-binding working definition of antisemitism" in
May 2016, when most people understand antisemitism to be hostility to Jews as
Jews.
Geoffrey Robertson QC, of Doughty Street Chambers,
has said that the IHRA definition of antisemitism is not fit for purpose and is
liable to deter "legitimate criticism
of the state of Israel and coverage of human rights abuses against Palestinians."
Many believe that its sole purpose. In practice, this is exactly what has occurred
because people who have adopted the IHRA definition are conflating criticism of
Israel with antisemitism and defer to the eleven "contemporary examples of antisemitism" that are attached to
the definition.
This is acknowledged by Kenneth Stern, who drafted
the IHRA definition. Stern has said that he drafted the IHRA definition of
antisemitism but it's right wing Jews who have weaponized it to chill and
suppress free speech and legitimate criticism of Israel. Helen Marks, is just
one of many to have had her right to freedom of expression curtailed by a
definition of antisemitism that has no legal basis in English law.
At Saint Andrews University in Scotland, the
rector, Stella Maris, has come under fire from the Israeli lobby for sending
out an email recognising Israel as an apartheid regime and accusing the
Israelis of waging genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
Ms Marks says that Liverpool council’s maneuvers were "feeble but predictable"
and that she has sent her statement to all Liverpool's councillors.
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