Thursday, August 03, 2006

Aaronovich (Not Jewish) Smacks Around An Antisemite

A while back, I put up here comment by David Aaronovich.

A reader of his slammed into him for another piece (here) and in doing so, spouted racist crap.

Here'sDavid's reponse (you can read the attack on him there, I won't repeat it here).


Dear FK, You write, "when it comes to do with anything relating to Israel you become, first and foremost, a Jew."

I am not a Jew. My father was Jewish, my mother wasn't. I was brought up in an entirely secular household. So maybe your accusation should read 'when it comes to anything to do with Israel your half-Jewish origins and your non-existent Judaism somehow seem to me to manifest themselves in your writing, though I am, of course, not an anti-Semite".

Since you are slightly hard of reading let me reiterate the paragraph which runs, "God alone knows, the Israelis have, in their history, committed crimes and terrible errors. Sabra and Chatilla, the refusal to recognise for many years that Palestinians actually existed, the brutalities of the occupation, the settling on the West Bank and in Gaza and so on. The Palestinian organisations have their own track record of deceit and murder. Consequently, each slow step towards a peace has been agonising, and now the new asymmetry makes progress almost impossible."

Even so, I must fail your test, since I am hardly likely to go along with your views on the "unhealthy" influence Jews have on American media, entertainment and finance (were you thinking of the terrible effect that Adam Shandler movies have on the morale of the Gentile majority?). I don't fail it because I'm Jewish, but because the left-wing secular upbringing I had instead taught me, above all, to loathe racism. And I don't see how anyone who credibly describes themselves as liberal or progressive could possibly endorse such sentiments as yours. Whatever you were, you have now become just another font of prejudice.

With very best wishes for a full recovery,

David A

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