Approved by AHA Council, October 2026.
The Council also offers a white paper as a touchpoint for those seeking to understand the recent history of official efforts to define antisemitism, and why the misuse of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s Working Definition on Antisemitism has become a threat to open historical inquiry.
The American Historical Association is committed to defending academic freedom and the professional practice of historical inquiry and teaching. It is therefore strongly opposed to the misuse of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, together with the examples the IHRA provides, by federal, state, and local institutions in ways that restrict legitimate historical inquiry and academic freedom, particularly in scholarship and teaching concerning Israel, Palestine, Zionism, and the Middle East.
Antisemitism has been a virulent and deadly force in world history and remains a serious concern today. Precisely for this reason, definitions of antisemitism must be formulated and applied with particular care, especially when they are used by institutions in ways that affect scholarship, teaching, and public debate. As its name suggests, the IHRA’s “working definition” and its accompanying examples were developed in a specific historical and institutional context as a legally nonbinding tool intended to guide the IHRA and other organizations in their efforts to identify and combat antisemitism. Its examples recognize that manifestations of antisemitism “might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.” At the same time, the working definition qualifies that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.” Institutionalizing the IHRA definition beyond its intended context and deploying the IHRA definition in a narrow or restrictive way, including by disregarding this qualification, endangers open historical inquiry and debate.
Definitions can provide useful guidance, and other groups have offered alternatives to the IHRA’s “working definition.” But abstract definitions cannot substitute for careful historical analysis, contextualization, and scholarly judgment. Nor can they, by themselves, substitute for genuine and open-minded dialogue among scholars and students. In accordance with principles of academic freedom and the AHA’s own Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct, historians must remain free to conduct research and teaching without feeling obliged to judge historical events and ideas according to definitions of antisemitism generated in the present, for present-day needs, or according to present-day assertions of group identity.
Recognizing that historians often work in contentious circumstances, the AHA reaffirms that historical teaching and research are best served by an environment that facilitates open inquiry, careful contextualization, and scholarly disagreement, free from antisemitism and other forms of hatred. The AHA pledges to stand for the academic freedom of all historians against institutional measures that restrict legitimate scholarly inquiry, teaching, and debate.