Institution has said it is reviewing its support for IHRA’s definition as critics argue it restricts freedom of speech
Jewish leaders have urged the University of Edinburgh to uphold a controversial definition of antisemitism after the institution revealed it was reviewing its support for it.
The university said on Sunday it could unadopt the internationally recognised definition written by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which its critics argue restricts freedom of speech on Israel and Palestine.
The issue came into sharp focus after a review of Edinburgh’s links to transatlantic slavery and empire called on the university to unadopt it and to divest from companies allegedly complicit in Israel’s military action in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Union of Jewish Students and the IHRA said on Monday the definition, described by the IHRA as a “non-legally binding practical tool” to help identify and address antisemitism, was widely supported by British Jews and Jewish students.
