Your Weekly Dose of Anti-Semitism in the Media

by Rebecca Honig Friedman

Just after a patriotic Fourth of July weekend, two reminders of why it’s better to be a Jew in America than in most other places reached my email inbox this week.

First we have British Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone spouting forth on why Hitler was an effective leader, and then there’s the Palestinian Authority’s Chief Religious Justice, Tayseer Tamimi, spouting falsehoods about the Koran’s views of Jews and Israel.

Ecclestone’s views came out when The Times asked him “to comment on accusations that world motorsport chief Max Mosley behaved like a dictator” — it turns out Eccelstone is rather fond of dictators including Hitler, Saddam Hussein, and Osama Bin Laden:

“…apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he … could command a lot of people, able to get things done,” Ecclestone told The Times.
“In the end he got lost, so he wasn’t a very good dictator.”
Ecclestone added: “We did a terrible thing when we supported the idea of getting rid of Saddam Hussein. He was the only one who could control Iraq.”
“It was the same (with the Taliban in Afghanistan). …”

But lest you think this fascist is also a chauvinist, think again. Ecclestone is clearly respectful of the capabilities of women:

Ecclestone said Britain’s only female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, was also someone who had “got the job done”.
“She was the one who built this country up slowly. We’ve let it go down again.”
Ecclestone recently stated that Formula One need a Jewish black female driver to boost the sport’s appeal.

(Well, if Rabbi Alysa Stanton gets sick of the pulpit, Formula One racing could be her next stop.)

The PA’s Tayseer Tamimi focused his comments in a June 9th interview on the Palestinian Authority’s official television station, PATV, on misrepresenting the Koran, according to Newsblaze.com, saying:

that Jews have inherently negative traits and have been evil throughout history; that Jerusalem has no Jewish holy sites; that Israel is destroying the foundation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is now “hanging in midair;” that Orthodox Jews deny the Western Wall is part of the Jewish Temple; and that Jesus was not a Jew but a Palestinian.

It’s hard to know which is more worrisome, the Palestinian religious authority misrepresenting religion to its followers — Jesus was a Palestinian? — or an ignorant but powerful billionaire spouting prejudiced views that could influence a generation of race car enthusiasts. OK, maybe it’s obvious which is worse.

To be sure, there is plenty of anti-Semitism in America, but at least our celebrities and political figures generally limit their anti-Semitic rants to the privacy of the Oval Office.