Antisemitism in International Human Rights Bodies

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Thursday 26th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I meet regularly with our FORB envoy, David Smith, and support him very much in the work that he is doing around the world on this. I acknowledge, as I find myself doing very frequently at the Dispatch Box, the work that the noble Lord led in his time in the Foreign Office.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister agree that it is often difficult to draw the appropriate line between legitimate criticism of Israel—for example, in relation to Gaza and Iran—and antisemitism? Will she agree to undertake robustly to challenge any state that goes beyond that line into antisemitism?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I do not find it difficult to draw the line between criticism of the State of Israel and antisemitism. I have expressed my concerns on the record around some of the problems with access of aid into Gaza, for example, and other issues over time. At no point does this criticism ever get anywhere near anything that could be described as antisemitic. People who do not know the difference need to educate themselves, and it is their responsibility to make sure that any comments they make could never be interpreted as being antisemitic. It is perfectly possible to hold strong views about the Middle East without being antisemitic. We need to be clear about that.