Commonwealth Jewry

Jewish Advocacy

The CJC is one of the few fully accredited Commonwealth organisations. We participate as a member of the Commonwealth family in high-level programmes and institutional events. We are the only Jewish organisation with this status within the Commonwealth.

We provide support at national and international levels to address antisemitism and hostility that challenges the freedom of Jewish citizens in the Commonwealth to practice Judaism, and threatens their physical and emotional security.

Together with our ever-growing network of reliable and helpful contacts and allies across the Commonwealth’s 56 nations, the CJC is now able to raise issues of concern to the Jewish community, whether of specific Jewish significance, or wider issues of general importance. Such connections have ensured that we are able to assist our communities when the need arises, not least to address the growing scourge of renewed antisemitism worldwide. We are also better positioned to support our communities to engage with their national and local governments.

Defending Jewish Communities

The CJC works to intervene and defend our Jewish communities around the Commonwealth.

In New Zealand in 2019, we supported the community when it became clear that their government was reluctant to make special security arrangements for the Jewish school in Auckland, as they did not want to single it out from other schools. The CJC produced a good practice guide based on the experience of other Commonwealth communities, which was used by the Auckland municipality to provide suitable facilities.
The CJC also intervened with the Sri Lankan authorities following news that they had decided, due to the pressures of the Covid pandemic, to require cremation after all deaths in the country. Our intervention made clear how this would impact on Jewish burial requirements, as well as those of other religious communities, in relation to freedom of religion. The Sri Lankan government agreed to reconsider their plans.
Most recently, the CJC has helped the South African, Channel Islands and Maltese communities handle the rise of antisemitism in their countries following the October 7th massacre in Israel.

IHRA Adoption

Combatting antisemitism is fundamental to supporting our communities and we will increase support for the safety and security for all our Commonwealth Jewish communities, no matter how small.

The CJC is leading efforts to have the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism adopted by governments and non-governmental organisations throughout the Commonwealth.

We have established an international high-level working group to collaborate and build wider partnerships across our four regional hub communities (Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the UK). This group engages directly with ministers, civil servants and parliamentarians on behalf of our affiliated communities to influence public policy to combat antisemitism. For many of our communities, the most important relationships are with their local governments, so we also support our members’ advocacy and bring them together with decision-makers to drive adoption of the working definition at the local level.

About IHRA

The IHRA is the only intergovernmental organization mandated to focus solely on Holocaust-related issues, so with evidence that the scourge of antisemitism is once again on the rise, we resolved to take a leading role in combatting it. IHRA experts determined that in order to begin to address the problem of antisemitism, there must be clarity about what antisemitism is.

The working definition

In the spirit of the Stockholm Declaration that states: “With humanity still scarred by …antisemitism and xenophobia the international community shares a solemn responsibility to fight those evils” the committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial called the IHRA Plenary in Budapest 2015 to adopt the following working definition of antisemitism. Click here for the full definition.

On 26 May 2016, the Plenary in Bucharest decided to:
Adopt the following non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism:

“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

To read about IHRA in more detail, click here

In view of the fact that the working definition was devised by an intergovernmental international group of statesmen and academics, it has become regarded as the gold standard definition of antisemitism around the world, not least by all Jewish communities. The CJC notes that one of the first moves on the part of antisemites, is to challenge the validity of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.

Relations with Israel

The CJC acts as a bridge to build relations between Commonwealth countries and Israel wherever possible, or simply to recognise the many ways that Israel does this itself and can contribute towards global well-being. We have showcased Israel’s technological advances in our “Small Islands; Big Challenges” campaign, and promoted Israeli innovations in Africa.

Commonwealth Jewish Women's Network (CJWN)

On the 11th February 2021, the Commonwealth Jewish Council launched a network of exceptional women, to connect and support female leadership across Commonwealth Jewish communities.
As comparatively new members of the Commonwealth family, we feel there is an opportunity to focus specifically on the existence of women within faith communities and their contributions to civil society.
We recognise that Jewish women from across the Commonwealth possess a range of skills, experience and willingness to contribute. When united, potentially with women from other faith groups too, we can work together as a force for good to raise the profile of Commonwealth women and work towards enhancing gender equality as part of the sustainable development goals.
With this in mind, we have created the Commonwealth Jewish Women’s Network. This will offer opportunities for Jewish women from Commonwealth communities to connect with one another and raise awareness of issues relevant to numerous other women of the Commonwealth.

CJWN Steering Group

Laura Marks OBE, Chair of Commonwealth Jewish Women’s Network
Karen Austrian, Kenya
Martha Bernstein, Jersey
Fiona Elkinson, Bermuda
Naomi Hassan-Weisfogel, Gibraltar
Adina Halpern, New Zealand
Ilona Lee, Australia
Efrat Lilian, Tanzania
Lebana Penkar, India
Elaine Robinson, Singapore

Diplomacy: Connections with High Commissioners

We run a rotating programme of meetings with High Commissioners. It allows the limited number of national representatives to meet with us and with each other in an informal setting where we can all share ideas and concerns.

In particular, our Annual Model Seder for senior diplomats, where we share not only the ancient Passover ritual, but discuss contemporary issues in a convivial setting, is rapidly becoming a noted feature in the calendar of Commonwealth High Commissioners.

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