On September 23, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, reflected on events and challenges that have arisen in the 12 months since he presented his unprecedented report on global antisemitism to the UN General Assembly in a conversation with JBI Director Felice Gaer on AJC’s Advocacy Anywhere web series.
Dr. Shaheed explained that he had been inspired to write a standalone report on antisemitism for the UN in part because human rights violations against members of Jewish communities had received very little attention from previous UN experts to have held his mandate. He also stressed that he had been troubled by the dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents around the world that began in 2017. He expressed his appreciation to JBI for facilitating consultations with stalwarts of the Jewish community and key individuals monitoring antisemitism from around the world as he was preparing the report. Dr. Shaheed and said these were among the first examples of growing engagement between UN experts and Jewish communities that has now increased substantially and reflected an important path forward.
Dr. Shaheed’s sweeping report identified antisemitism as a human rights concern with a global scope and concluded that it “threatens the rights of all people in societies in which this insidious hatred is unaddressed.” and called on a wide range of stakeholders, including governments, social media companies, and civil society to take concrete steps to combat it. Dr. Shaheed reiterated that he considered it urgent to address antisemitism, as if left unchallenged it would affect Jewish communities as well as society at large.
Reflecting on the implementation of the recommendations in his report, Dr. Shaheed noted that many governments have taken steps to adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, as he called on them to do, and that many government leaders had condemned antisemitic incidents and rhetoric when they occurred and taken other steps to increase their ability to monitor and respond to antisemitism. However, he also called out other government leaders, including the Prime Minister of Malaysia and Iran’s Supreme Leader, for continuing to openly espouse antisemitic views.
Dr. Shaheed was the first UN expert to sound the alarm, in April 2020, about the dramatic rise in antisemitic rhetoric that accompanied the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Shaheed stressed that the spread of antisemitic conspiracy theories in this context was dangerous, and in several cases had led to concrete negative impacts for many communities. He also reflected that such scapegoating had not been confined to Jews and had affected many minority communities.
Asked to comment on whether social media companies had done enough to address the disturbing amount of hate speech – both antisemitic and otherwise – on social media platforms, Dr. Shaheed emphasized that “With great power comes great responsibility, and these companies have not lived up to it.” Dr. Shaheed reiterated his earlier recommendation for social media companies to strictly enforce their terms of service, and further suggested that they should increase transparency surrounding how they address complaints, use the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism as a training tool for content moderators, and place a greater emphasis in their policies on ensuring the right to non-discrimination and equality. Dr. Shaheed stressed that social media companies should consult directly and regularly with affected communities as they undertake these efforts.
Dr. Shaheed also expressed optimism that he has seen a growing recognition of the importance of addressing antisemitism within the UN system. He applauded the UN Secretary-General’s recent decision to appoint a senior focal point on antisemitism, in line with a recommendation in his report, and expressed support for training UN staff to increase their awareness of antisemitism, using the IHRA Working Definition. He urged civil society organizations like AJC to continue disseminating his report and increase broader awareness of and familiarity with the IHRA Working Definition.
Dr. Shaheed also stressed that he would continue to work with civil society groups and Jewish communities worldwide to increase attention to the need to combat antisemitism and press for the implementation of his report's recommendations during the two years that remain before his UN mandate expires. As the conversation concluded, JBI’s Felice Gaer thanked Dr. Shaheed for his report, for his commitment to continuing to focus on combatting antisemitism in the future, and for engaging on this challenging issue in a way that has inspired so many people.