Campaign Against Antisemitism
FormationAugust 2014
Registration no.1163790
HeadquartersLondon, UK
Region served
United Kingdom
Chairman
Gideon Falter
Websiteantisemitism.org

Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) is a British non-governmental organisation established in August 2014 by members of the Anglo-Jewish community.[1][2][3] It publishes research, organises rallies and petitions, and conducts litigation.

History

CAA was set up in early August 2014, after an increase in antisemitic incidents that accompanied the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[4][5] A grassroots campaign, it grew largely out of social media activity among those who felt more should be done to promote the Jewish community's concerns after a meeting to discuss responses where a campaigner had her concerns dismissed by Board of Deputies president Vivian Wineman.[6]

In January 2015, the then-UK Home Secretary, Theresa May, praised CAA for its work and undertook to ensure that the law against antisemitism is "robustly enforced".[7] On 1 October 2015, it was registered as a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) on 1 October 2015.[8] Its chair is Gideon Falter and its first director of communications was Jonathan Sacerdoti.[9]

Publications

CAA publishes primary and secondary research based on opinion polling and Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests. CAA's National Antisemitic Crime Audit collects and analyses antisemitic crime data from all police forces in the United Kingdom. CAA uses the report to assess trends in antisemitic crime and to make recommendations to the British government.[10][11]

Rallies and petitions

CAA's first demonstration was in 2014 against the Tricycle Theatre in London, which had cancelled its hosting of that November's UK Jewish Film Festival due to the contemporaneous conflict in Gaza, unless the festival rejected funding from parties involved in the conflict, specifically a £1,400 sponsorship from the Israeli embassy, which the Tricycle Theatre offered to replace.[12] In August 2014, following discussions with the festival organizers, the Tricycle withdrew its condition.[13]

In August 2018, CAA organised a demonstration outside Labour Party's headquarters to protest against the handling of antisemitism in the Labour Party, and to condemn the-then party leader, Jeremy Corbyn.[14] That same month, the organisation launched a Change.org petition titled "Jeremy Corbyn is an antisemite and must go";[15] it featured a Labour slogan modified to read "For the many not the Jew", which was signed by over 30,000 by 30 August 2018.[16] A counter-petition against CAA with the title "To Get the Charity Commission to Deregister the Zionist Campaign Against Anti-Semitism" was signed by almost 7,500 and sent to the Charity Commission for England and Wales, which said in response that it was "assessing concerns raised about the Campaign Against Antisemitism's campaigning activities".[17] In October 2018, the Charity Commission said that charities must be independent of party politics and insisted that CAA reword its petition.[18]

In November 2018, CAA asked the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to investigate the Labour Party.[19] In May 2019, following complaints submitted by CAA and the Jewish Labour Movement, the EHRC launched a formal investigation into whether Labour had "unlawfully discriminated against, harassed or victimised people because they are Jewish".[20]

On 26 November 2023, following several pro-Palestinian marches in London during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, the CAA organised the March Against Antisemitism, starting at the Royal Courts of Justice. Estimates from police indicate that between 50,000[21] and 100,000 people attended the march.[22]

Litigation

CAA has used the process of judicial review in English law to scrutinise and reverse decisions made by the government and authorities. In March 2017, CAA forced the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to quash a decision not to prosecute an alleged far-right leader over a speech in which he issued a call to "free England from Jewish control".[23][24][25]

In December 2017, the CPS decided not to prosecute an Islamic Human Rights Commission director who was one of the organisers of a Quds Day rally; during the rally, the director allegedly stated that Zionists were responsible for the Grenfell Tower fire, called for Israel's destruction, and said that he was fed up with Zionists, their rabbis, synagogues, and supporters. CAA attempted to begin a private prosecution for inciting racial or religious hatred, which was blocked by the CPS, as they had determined there was no "realistic prospect of conviction".[26][27][28]

In early 2018, CAA brought a successful private prosecution against Alison Chabloz,[29][30] a Holocaust denier who released three YouTube videos of self-written antisemitic songs characterising Auschwitz as a "theme park" and the Holocaust as the "Holohoax".[31][32][33][34] Chabloz was subsequently imprisoned for breaking the conditions of her suspended sentence.[35] In July 2018, Gilad Atzmon was forced to apologise to CAA chairman Gideon Falter and pay costs and damages after being sued for libel. Atzmon acknowledged that he had falsely stated that Falter had personally profited from fabricating antisemitic incidents.[36][37][38]

In 2019, the CAA was sued by Tony Greenstein for libel in relation to what is or is not antisemitism following five articles it had published about him. In 2017, Greenstein had launched a petition asking the Charity Commission to deregister the organisation, claiming its purpose was to limit freedom of speech by calling opponents of Israel antisemitic.[39] Greenstein's libel claim was dismissed.[40]

Opposition to events

A February 2017 letter to The Guardian, which was signed by 250 academics,[41] stated that CAA cites the Working Definition of Antisemitism in asking its supporters to "record, film, photograph and get witness evidence" about Israeli Apartheid Week events, and CAA "will help you to take it up with the university, students' union or even the police." The signatories said: "These are outrageous interferences with free expression, and are direct attacks on academic freedom ... . It is with disbelief that we witness explicit political interference in university affairs in the interests of Israel under the thin disguise of concern about antisemitism."[42][43][44]

In August 2019, CAA asked Goldsmiths, University of London, to cancel a booking made by the Communist Party of Great Britain because they objected to some of the speakers who they said "have a history of baiting Jews or outright antisemitism". The university in response referenced their commitment to free speech and that hiring event space to legal organisations was a common practice amongst universities.[45]

Criticism

In January 2015, the All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism wrote: "We were somewhat disappointed to note that not all of the messages from that group [CAA] have been in line with CST's stated approach of seeking to avoid undue panic and alarm." They added "it is important that the leadership do not conflate concerns about activity legitimately protesting Israel's actions with antisemitism, as we have seen has been the case on some occasions."[46] That same month, the Institute for Jewish Policy Research said that a CAA survey about antisemitism was "littered with flaws", and "may even be rather irresponsible".[47] After criticism by CAA of Shami Chakrabarti over her 2016 report into antisemitism in the UK Labour Party, a number of British Jews wrote to The Guardian dissociating themselves from what they described as "the pro-Israel lobbyists of the Campaign Against Antisemitism".[48][49]

In July 2018, the Labour MP Margaret Hodge became one of a number of honorary patrons of CAA. In the run up to the 2019 United Kingdom general election, CAA asked her to resign as a patron because she was standing as a Labour Party candidate; she did so but described their request as "both astonishing and wounding", showing a lack of respect and impugning her integrity.[50] In February 2020, the Morning Star reported that Shahrar Ali, the Home Affairs spokesman of the Green Party of England and Wales, had made a formal complaint to the Charity Commission that the CAA had failed to be independent of party politics, which is a legal requirement for charities, and that the commission was assessing.[51] CAA had previously described a 2009 speech by Ali, who described Tony Blair, George W. Bush, and Ehud Olmert, as "warmongers",[52] as antisemitic and an "offensive rant".[53][54]

In 2023, following the CAA-led March Against Antisemitism, the British Jewish organisation Na'amod released a statement about their decision not to attend the CAA-led demonstration, stating: "we know this march is not just about antisemitism. It’s clear from the event description that CAA has organised this march in response to huge weekly ceasefire demonstrations in London."[55] Na'amod publicly denied CAA's characterizations of the prior ceasefire marches as antisemitic, saying "This could not be further from the truth. Pitting Jewish safety against Palestinian freedom doesn’t make Jews safer; it makes fighting antisemitism harder.”[55]

References

  1. ↑ Cardaun, Sarah K (19 Jun 2015). Countering Contemporary Antisemitism in Britain: Government and Civil Society Responses between Universalism and Particularism. Brill Publishers. p. 152. ISBN 9789004300880.
  2. ↑ Winer, Stuart (1 May 2016). "Hate crimes against Jews up sharply in Britain, audit finds". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  3. ↑ "Researching antisemitism". Institute for Jewish Policy Research. 2015-01-14.
  4. ↑ Peled, Daniella (15 September 2014). "Shaken by post-Gaza War Hostility, U.K. Jews Push Back". Haaretz. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  5. ↑ Cardaun, Sarah K. (31 August 2015). Countering Contemporary Antisemitism in Britain. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-30089-7.
  6. ↑ Dysch, Marcus (4 September 2014). "How a small band of activists took the lead". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "Theresa May remarks on rising antisemitism and work of CAA". BBC News. 18 January 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2019 – via Campaign Against Antisemitism.
  8. ↑ "Campaign Against Antisemitism, registered charity no. 1163790". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  9. ↑ "Welcome Stephen and Binyomin, farewell Jonathan and Angela". Campaign Against Antisemitism. 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  10. ↑ "National Antisemitic Crime Audit". Campaign Against Antisemitism. 2016-05-01. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  11. ↑ "UK Watchdog: British Jews 'Denied Justice;' Despite Antisemitism Surge, Hate-Crime Prosecution Drops (INTERVIEW)". Algemeiner Journal. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  12. ↑ "UK Jewish Film Festival banned from the Tricycle Theatre: But some won't attack boycott".
  13. ↑ Dysch, Marcus (15 August 2014). "Tricycle Theatre drops UK Jewish Film Festival boycott". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  14. ↑ Hundreds protest anti-Semitism outside Labour HQ, Jewish News, 8 August 2018
  15. ↑ "Thousands sign petition seeking Corbyn's ouster over Labour anti-Semitism". Times of Israel. 26 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  16. ↑ 30,000 sign petition calling for Jeremy Corbyn to quit over antisemitism, The Times, Dulcie Lee, 30 August 2018
  17. ↑ Preston, Rob (30 August 2018). "Regulator assessing concerns over Campaign Against Antisemitism petition". Civil Society Media. London. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  18. ↑ Sugarman, Daniel (30 October 2018). "You can call Corbyn an antisemite but you can't call for him to resign, Charity Commission tells CAA". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  19. ↑ "Anti-Semitism: Labour faces possible human rights probe". BBC News. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  20. ↑ "Equality watchdog launches Labour anti-Semitism probe". BBC News. 2019-05-28.
  21. ↑ Thomas, Natalie; Schomberg, William (2023-11-26). Heavens, Louise (ed.). "March against antisemitism draws 50,000 in London". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2023-11-27. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  22. ↑ Pinkstone, Joe; Lampert, Nicole (2023-11-26). Smallman, Etan; Nicholls, Dominic (eds.). "Police estimate 100,000 people at March Against Antisemitism". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2023-11-26. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  23. ↑ "Anti-Semites are becoming bolder in Britain, and that should worry us all". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  24. ↑ "CPS are going to re-examine the case of a prolific anti-Semite who claims the West are "slaves" to the "Zionist agenda"". The Independent. 2017-03-07. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  25. ↑ Ross, Alice (2017-03-07). "CPS weighs prosecution of far-right activist on eve of legal challenge". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  26. ↑ CAA takes legal action against the CPS for blocking Al Quds Day march leader prosecution, Jewish Chronicle, 3 September 2018
  27. ↑ No criminal charge for Al Quds rally speaker who blamed ‘Zionists’ for Grenfell disaster, Jewish Chronicle, 13 December 2017
  28. ↑ Prosecution of Al-Quds Day march leader blocked by Crown Prosecution Service, Jewish Chronicle, 5 July 2018
  29. ↑ "YouTuber Alison Chabloz guilty over anti-Semitic songs". BBC News. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  30. ↑ "Woman who posted Holocaust denial songs to YouTube convicted". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  31. ↑ Blogger claims "no proof" gas chambers killed Jewish people, BBC News, 7 March 2018
  32. ↑ 'Holocaust revisionist' on trial for anti-Semitic songs, BBC News, 10 January 2018
  33. ↑ Blogger Alison Chabloz sings along to antisemitic song (((Survivors))) in court, The Times, January 10, 2018
  34. ↑ Blogger 'mocked Anne Frank and Holocaust survivors', court told, ITV News, January 11, 2018
  35. ↑ Weich, Ben (24 September 2019). "Holocaust denier Alison Chabloz jailed for continuing to blog despite social media ban". Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  36. ↑ Welch, Ben (2 July 2018). "Gilad Atzmon is forced to apologise to CAA's Gideon Falter over libel". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  37. ↑ Frazer, Jenni (2 July 2020). "Gilad Atzmon says sorry for libelling Campaign Against Antisemitism's chairman". Jewish News.
  38. ↑ Sugarman, Daniel (28 Nov 2018). "Gilad Atzmon forced to ask supporters for funds after Campaign Against Antisemitism libel lawsuit". Jewish Chronicle.
  39. ↑ Rocker, Simon (15 Feb 2019). "Definition of antisemitism under the spotlight in anti-Zionist campaigner's libel battle against charity". Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  40. ↑ Frot, Mathilde (6 November 2020). "Tony Greenstein's 'notorious antisemite' libel claim dismissed by court". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  41. ↑ Alibhai-Brown, Yasmin (2018). In Defence of Political Correctness. London: Biteback Publishing. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-78590-425-7. Retrieved 13 August 2022 – via Google Books.
  42. ↑ Morris, Steven; Weale, Sally (27 February 2017). "Universities spark free speech row after halting pro-Palestinian events". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  43. ↑ Surkes, Sue (1 March 2017). "UK academics protest clampdown on Israel Apartheid Week". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  44. ↑ "Free speech on Israel is under threat from groups conflating criticism of country with anti-Semitism, say academics". The Independent. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  45. ↑ Southworth, Phoebe (15 August 2019). "University which banned beef now hosts 'Communist' summer school". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  46. ↑ "Report of the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism" (PDF). All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism. January 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2022 – via Safe Campus Communities. Quotes at p. 75{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  47. ↑ "Researching Antisemitism". Institute for Jewish Policy Research. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  48. ↑ "Shami Chakrabarti's honour under scrutiny". The Guardian. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  49. ↑ Winstanley, Asa (2017-12-19). "Jewish Palestine activist to sue charity for 'anti-Semitism' defamation". The Electronic Intifada. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  50. ↑ Margaret Hodge's Diary: Reselection triumphs, a shocking letter, and why women get more anti-Semitic abuse, New Statesman, 6 November 2019
  51. ↑ "Charity faces election bias investigation". Morning Star. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  52. ↑ Webber, Esther (11 August 2018). "Greens drawn into antisemitism row". The Times. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  53. ↑ Mortimer, Josiah (3 August 2018). "Green Party leadership candidate in antisemitism storm over Gaza video". Left Foot Forward. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  54. ↑ "Shahrar Ali". Campaign Against Antisemitism. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  55. 1 2 "Tens of thousands attend march against antisemitism in London". The Independent. 2023-11-26. Retrieved 2023-12-04.

Further reading

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