Green Left statement on the Board of Deputies’ “Ten Commitments”

 Green Left statement on the Board of Deputies’ “Ten Commitments”

In the run-up to the forthcoming local elections, the Board of Deputies of British Jews has asked that candidates pledge support for its “Ten Commitments” (https://www.bod.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ten-Commitments-London-page-001-scaled.jpg).

Green Party candidates should resist requests to support these Commitments, which are not compatible with Green Party policy.

Commitment no.4:  The Green Party supports the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and has done so since motions were passed at Conference in 2008 and 2014 (see details below). The Green Party has a BDS Group that brings together members active in advocating justice for Palestinians. In contrast, the BoD’s Commitment No.4 opposes boycotts of Israel and so is incompatible with Green Party policy.

Commitment No. 1:  This supports the IHRA definition of antisemitism. This definition has not been adopted by the Green Party; it is not party policy and remains highly contentious. At the spring 2021 Conference a majority of those voting at a pre-plenary workshop voted in favour of motions rejecting the IHRA definition. In the view of many critics, the IHRA examples conflate antisemitism with criticism of the state of Israel and thus narrow the scope for legitimate, non-racist criticism.

Commitment No. 8:  This demands support for Jewish schools. Candidates should heed the relevant passage of Green Party Education Policy, namely: that no publicly-funded schools should be run by a religious organisation, and that privately funded faith schools must reflect the inclusive nature of British society and operate within the local authority admissions system.

Therefore Green Left urges candidates to withhold support for those three Commitments in representing faithfully the position of the Green Party.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Board of Deputies of British Jews

Its London manifesto has local versions around the country, so this GL statement is relevant to them all, https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/board-of-deputies-and-jlc-publish-regional-manifestos-1.514057?highlight=board+of+deputies%2C

In early 2020 the Board of Deputies put forward a similar Ten Commitments targeting the Labour Party's internal election candidates. The document was opposed by Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL). Going further, some JVL members have put forward counter-demands on BoD, https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/our-demands-of-the-board-of-deputies-of-british-jews/

The Board of Deputies has consistently denounced critics of Israel  as antisemitic.  For historical background, see this article, https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/expose-who-are-the-board-of-deputies-of-british-jews/

BDS: At the Green Party’s autumn 2014 conference, the BDS motion advocated measures to address the underlying causes of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

“Steps include:
• Reiterating our calls on the UN, the EU and the US government to ensure that Israel complies with international law;
• Supporting these calls by active participation in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. This campaign aims to put pressure on the government of Israel to end the Occupation and to give equal rights to Palestinians. The campaign asks individuals, organisations, councils and governments to refuse to deal with companies and institutions identified as facilitating Israel's military capacity, human rights abuses or illegal settlement activity.
• In particular to demand that the UK government halts all joint Israeli/UK military co-operation and approval for all arms sales to Israel."

Hence relevant targets include complicit companies in local authority procurement and pension fund investments.

JDA versus IHRA

A group of Jewish academics has recently put forward the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA) as alternative guidance on antisemitism. It avoids the pitfalls of the IHRA Definition, particularly as regards criticisms of Israel. The JDA has not yet been debated within Green Left or the Green Party but may provide a less contentious alternative to the IHRA. https://jerusalemdeclaration.org/

The Green Left flyer on the IHRA/BDS contains the full background to the issue; it can be found here: https://1drv.ms/b/s!As12Pa4dpiTViuI_xk6JgTwOpRSoOA?e=pehura

Faith Schools

Green Party policy on Faith Schools can be found here at ED107 https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/ed.html

 

Green Left is an anti-capitalist and eco-socialist grouping within the Green Party of England and Wales.