Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo shared an Al Jazeera article on Friday that detailed the call by academics urging the United Nations not to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
The statement was issued by 128 "leading scholars of antisemitism."
They claimed that the definition is "instrumentalised to discourage free speech and to shield the Israeli government from accountability for its actions."
Ruffalo regularly takes anti-Israeli positions. He had complained of being accused of antisemitism after he said on a 2020 broadcast on American network NBC that Israel was an apartheid state. In 2021, he accused Israel of genocide against the Palestinians and then apologized after an outcry.
The statement from “antisemitism scholars” said their concern about the IHRA definition stems from the seven examples of Israel-related antisemitism it provides. The most concerning example, they said, is the one that asserts that it is “antisemitic to apply double standards by demanding behavior from Israel that is not expected of any other democratic nation.”
Scholars do not recognize, however, that criticism of Israel can sometimes be a means of expressing hatred of Jews.
The academics' statement promoted by Ruffalo said the UN's adoption of the IHRA definition could "weaken the ability of the UN to act as a neutral mediator in Israel and Palestine."
Despite its detractors, 38 countries have officially adopted this definition, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Israel.