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Euroasian Jewish News
EAJC Suggestions on the Definition of Anti-Semitism
26.12.2008
An attempt is being made in Ukraine to define anti-Semitism legislatively, within the framework of the new version of the Law on the Protection of Public Morality. The attempt itself deserves support, however, according to the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, the National Commission on the Protection of Public Morality suggests a totally incorrect definition: "a form of national and religious intolerance, expressed in hostile attitude towards the Semites." This understanding of anti-Semitism is fundamentally wrong and does not correspond to any dictionary definitions or the interpretation used in current international legal practice. The term "anti-Semitism" means hostility toward Jews and/or Judaism professors, and not to all the peoples of Semitic language group, despite attempts to extend the term for Arabs, which are rooted in the etymology of the word and the fact that the latter also speak a language which belongs to the Semitic group.
For its part, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) reminds that the Expert Group on Anti-Semitism Issues based in the EAJC offices at World Jewish Congress Committee on the FSU countries (co-chairs of the Commission - Chaim Chesler and EAJC Secretary General Mikhail Chlenov) suggested a working1 definition of anti-Semitism, which should be taken into account when trying to define this notion legislatively.
The text of suggestions on the definition of anti-Semitism, as formulated by the Expert Group, was published in the Euro-Asian Jewish Year Book and the EAJC website (in the Analytics section).
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