CFI Parliamentary Chairman (Lords) Rt. Hon. The Lord Pickles, praised UK Government’s stance on antisemitism and hailed the UK-USA-Israel trilateral relationship in a speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) annual policy conference in Washington DC this week.
Speaking at a fringe event, Lord Pickles highlighted the work of the Conservative Party to fight antisemitism, including the Government’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IRHA) definition of antisemitism in 2016 and legislating against public bodies engaging in boycotts of Israel. He said that the government’s new anti-BDS legislation is “a tough measure that will make a difference”.
Lord Pickles underlined: “Antisemitism is not just a Jewish issue… [and] Britain would not be the same without its Jewish identity – we would be robbed”.
He said that the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign is “essentially an antisemitic organisation”.
In a major speech to AIPAC, addressing 18,000 people, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis praised Lord Pickles for his central role in the IRHA definition of antisemitism.
