The University of Edinburgh could drop a definition of anti-Semitism following a report.

Academics have audited the university’s links to the empire, particularly the role played by Arthur Balfour, a former prime minister and Edinburgh chancellor, whose influential support for a Jewish homeland they have branded “racist”.

The report on colonial connections has recommended that the university drops the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism that it currently adheres to.

It claims that this definition inhibits free discussion of wrongs committed by Israel, as this might come under the scope of the recognised definition for anti-Semitism.

Sir Peter Mathieson, the university’s principal, has said that discussions about scrapping the definition are still continuing against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Reflection on the definition comes following the publication of the report Decolonised Transformations, produced by the university’s research and engagement working group set up in the wake of Black Lives matter protests.