Judgment Approved by the court for handing down.
[2025] EWHC 1170 (Admin)
AC-2024-LON-001310
HUSAIN v SRA
Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by
claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not
expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism
(e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize
Israel or Israelis.
Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the
Nazis.
Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of
Israel.”
96.
As the Tribunal said at [19.24.6], the IHRA working definition was formally adopted
by the UK Government in a written ministerial statement by the Rt Hon. Sajid Javid
MP, then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on 12 December
2016 (HCWS345). Mr Javid said that the IHRA working definition, “although legally
non-binding, is an important tool for criminal justice agencies, and other public bodies
to understand how anti-Semitism manifests itself in the 21st century, as it gives
examples of the kind of behaviours which depending on the circumstances could
constitute anti-Semitism”.
97.
As the Tribunal also noted at [19.24.8], the working definition and examples have since
been accepted by the European Parliament and many other countries and employed by a
range of governmental and political institutions. They have also, however, been
criticised. The Tribunal recorded at [26.16.29] comments made in 2021 by the BritishIsraeli academic Avi Shlaim, a former Professor of International Relations at the
University of Oxford:
“Scholars and legal experts have convincingly argued that IHRA’s
definition is incoherent, vague, vulnerable to political abuse, and not fit for
purpose. It fails even to meet the most elementary requirement of a
definition, which is to define. The decisive role of pro-Israel advocacy
groups in drafting and promoting the definition has also been
established…”
“The examples [referred to in the IHRA definition], falsely represented as
part of the IHRA definition, have been used to delegitimise and censor
legitimate criticism of Israel and, more broadly, to curtail free speech on
Israel. This shields Israel from accountability for its serious human rights
abuses, which consequently continue unchecked.”
PSA v GPhC, Ali
98.
In Ali, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care appealed
against a decision of the General Pharmaceutical Council’s Fitness to Practise
Committee imposing a warning on a registrant who had made two antisemitic