David Baddiel praised for ‘superb’ two minute definition of antisemitism on GMB

Comedian David Baddiel, a secular atheist Jew and author of the book Jews Don’t Count, has been praised on social media for an interview he gave on Good Morning Britain, where he defined antisemitism in just two minutes.

Mr Baddiel, who is also known for creating the popular football track “Three Lions” alongside Frank Skinner and The Lightning Seeds, spoke to the ITV breakfast programme on Wednesday – just days after actress Whoopi Goldberg was condemned for saying the Holocaust “isn’t about race” on an episode of The View.

Beginning by stressing he is a “fan” of Ms Goldberg, Mr Baddiel said: “There are so many issues with what she’s saying. It does reveal an awful lot about the confusions that people have around antisemitism that I explored in my book.

“One of the principal things going on here is the resistance to the idea that antisemitism is racism. What does Whoopi Goldberg think it is?

“Well, I think what a lot of people think it is is religious intolerance, and the problem with that is: I’m an atheist, and the Gestapo would have shot me tomorrow. My great uncle Arno, who died in the Warsaw Ghetto, was not an observant Jew.”

He then went on to refer to more recent events, such as a march by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.

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“They would not ask a Jew whether he kept kosher before they set light to their house. They’re not interested in faith and the Nazi’s weren’t interested in faith; they were interested in racial purity.

“That’s what the Nuremberg laws were. They were racial purity laws,” Mr Baddiel continued.

Co-presenter Susanna Reid responded to the answer by saying Ms Goldberg’s comment that the Holocaust “isn’t about race” suggests “there are people who think racism is only about the colour of your skin”.

“That’s true, and there’s a specific thing that I think is going on here. The whiteness of Jews is a very complex thing,” he replied, before explaining the term ‘Schrödinger’s whites” which he coined in his 2021 book.

He continued: “What I mean by that is: Jews are seen as white or non-white depending on the politics of the observer, right? So far-right groups, for years and years – centuries - have seen Jews as not part of the white races.

“It was absolutely part of Hitler’s project to say Jews are not part of the Aryan white races. Meanwhile on the other side, on the far-left, the association of Jews – which is a racist thing – with power and privilege, makes them kind of ‘super white’.

“It’s similar to the Black Lives Matter thing with saying ‘All Lives Matter’, because it takes away from the specifics of the racism, to something very bland and general like ‘man’s inhumanity to man’.”

“Man’s inhumanity to man” was the explanation offered by Ms Goldberg as to what the Holocaust was about, as well as it being about “two sides fighting”.

“This is not two sides fighting. This was an ethnic group being marked out to be destroyed by a military, industrial machine,” he concluded.

The “superb” answers to Ms Reid’s questions have since been praised by users on Twitter:

Ms Goldberg has since apologised “for the hurt ... caused” by her comments, stressing that “Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver”.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, CNN reported that Kim Godwin, ABC News president, described The View co-presenter’s remarks as “misinformed, upsetting and hurtful” and said she had suspended Ms Goldberg from the programme for two weeks.

“While Whoopi has apologised, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organisation stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities,” Ms Godwin’s email reads.

“While Whoopi has apologised, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organisation stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities,” Ms Godwin’s email reads.

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