The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism - Thomas Suárez

Tom Suárez discussed the recently issued Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA): Does the JDA intend to replace the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition that pro-Israel interests have pushed on institutions and governments, or instead consider itself “a tool for interpreting” IHRA? Why do 11 of the JDA’s 15 “Guidelines'' involve Israel? What does “hostility to Israel” have to do with a definition of antisemitism? Why does the JDA consider the question of how much influence the Israeli state exerts beyond its still-undefined borders irrelevant, except when that alleged influence is said to be synonymous with “the Jews”? Why can every other nation on earth be criticized both fairly and unfairly, but when the Israeli state is criticized that criticism is stigmatized as constituting racism against an ethnicity? Does focusing on the definition of antisemitism deflect attention from the core issue of Israel’s denial of human rights to its Palestinians citizens and to the Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation?

Tom Suárez is best known for his 2016 book, State of Terror: How Terrorism Created Modern Israel, described by Ilan Pappé as “the first comprehensive and structured analysis of the violence and terror employed by the Zionist movement and later the state of Israel against the people of Palestine.” Suárez's recent Writings on the Wall is an annotated collection of Palestinian oral histories, and he is the author as well of three highly-regarded books on the history of cartography. A Juilliard-trained violinist who has performed around the world, Suárez is a former faculty member of Palestine’s National Conservatory of Music.

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