2018 Hanukkah

U.S. Department of State defines anti-Semitism

          October 4, 1841.  Elder Orson Hyde of the Quorum of the Twelve, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, dedicated that land for the restoration of the kingdom unto Israel. Orson Hyde was born 8 January 1805 in Oxford, Connecticut, the tenth child of Nathan and Sally Thorp Hyde.  He was ordained an Apostle in 1835, and took the trip from Illinois to the land of Jerusalem,  then termed Palestine, in the Ottoman Empire, a name dating from Roman times.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1991/10/orson-hydes-18 by David B. Galbraith.

           The Doctrine and Covenants  Section 110, verse  11, memorialized the ‘keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth.’  Elder Hyde recorded a vision, like Daniel’s, Paul’s Jacob’s, “The vision of the Lord, like clouds of light, burst into my view. … The cities of London, Amsterdam, Constantinople and Jerusalem, all appeared in succession before me, and the Spirit said unto me, ‘Here are many of the children of Abraham whom I will gather to the land that I gave to their fathers; and here also is the field of your labors.’” On 24 October 1979, the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden was dedicated in the Mount of Olives park in Jerusalem, to memorialize this event.

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So with that, how is the Kingdom of Israel doing?  The United States recently moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, at President Trump’s direction.

       There is also within the U.S. Department of State, the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, and the Office of International Religious Freedom.  State lists on its web site

https://www.state.gov/defining-anti-semitism/

‘’The Department of State has used a working definition, along with examples, of anti-Semitism since 2010 (https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/fs/2010/122352.htm). On May 26, 2016, the 31 member states of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), of which the United States is a member, adopted a non-legally binding “working definition” of anti-Semitism at its plenary in Bucharest. This definition is consistent with and builds upon the information contained in the 2010 State Department definition. As a member of IHRA, the United States now uses this working definition and has encouraged other governments and international organizations to use it as well.

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 2009

Bucharest, 26 May 2016

In the spirit of the Stockholm Declaration that states: “With humanity still scarred by …antisemitism and xenophobia the international community shares a solemn responsibility to fight those evils” the committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial called the IHRA Plenary in Budapest 2015 to adopt the following working definition of antisemitism.

On 26 May 2016, the Plenary in Bucharest decided to:

Adopt the following non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism; 

“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

To guide IHRA in its work, the following examples may serve as illustrations:

Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic. Antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for “why things go wrong.” It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.

Contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:

  • Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
  • Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.
  • Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.
  • Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust
  • Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
  • Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
  • 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.

Antisemitic acts are criminal when they are so defined by law (for example, denial of the Holocaust or distribution of antisemitic materials in some countries).

Criminal acts are antisemitic when the targets of attacks, whether they are people or property – such as buildings, schools, places of worship and cemeteries – are selected because they are, or are perceived to be, Jewish or linked to Jews.

Antisemitic discrimination is the denial to Jews of opportunities or services available to others and is illegal in many countries.’’

       The  above State Department definition, including comparing Israel to the Nazi, is explained by The Blaze as follows.

The revision [of definition of anti-Semitic] was made after  [Democrat Representatives] Omar and Tliab attempted to legitimize the anti-Israel movement known as Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS). Last month  [July 2019] the pair introduced legislation [H.Res.496 – Affirming that all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.][promoting the BDS] boycotts, a bill that was widely seen as laying the foundation to promote the BDS movement in the U.S.

[TheBlaze reported] Speaking from the House floor, Tlaib attempted to justify the BDS movement by invoking the American boycott of Nazi Germany. “Americans boycotted Nazi Germany in response to dehumanization, imprisonment, and genocide of Jewish people,” Tlaib said.’’

For more on Nazis, and Jews,  see

https://www.utahstandardnews.com/defying-hitler-book-review-sebastian-haffner-author/,  recommended by Professor Mark Choate, BYU.

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