Palestinian envoy to UK tells Corbyn not to ‘give in’ on anti-Semitism definition

The Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to the United Kingdom backs the opposition Labour Party over its recently adopted definition of anti-Semitism and calls on party leader Jeremy Corbyn not to “give in” to calls to change it.

The definition adopted by Labour, which strips out clauses from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition dealing with criticism of Israel, has been met anger from British Jewry and further added to criticism the party has been soft on dealing with anti-Semitism under Corbyn.

According to The Times, Manuel Hassassian has hailed Corbyn for his “principled stance” on the matter.

“Pro-Israeli interest groups in Britain are using the anti-Semitism row to silence criticism of Israel,” Hassassian is quoted saying.

He applauds Labour for not adopting the full IHRA definition, under which he claims “accusations of racism against Israel could be deemed anti-Semitic.”

“Labour rightly judged that this example could be used as a tool to challenge criticism of nationalist tendencies and violations of human rights in Israel and legitimize its prolonged occupation of the Palestinians rather than protecting Jews worldwide,” he says.