Positive review of Jewish Cookbook in The Observer sparks antisemitic comments online
A newspaper review hailing a Jewish cookbook has sparked a slew of antisemitic slurs online.
After Jewish journalist Jay Rayner wrote a piece for The Observer, in which he commended Claudia Roden’s Book of Jewish Food for its revival of traditional Jewish recipes in homes and restaurants, the article was posted on The Guardian’s Facebook page (The Guardian is The Observer’s sister newspaper).
Users responded with comments such as, “No ty I do not eat stolen food from the original owners, Palestinian [sic]” and “Would you have bought a German recipe book during WWII slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent people? Even though the author may have been living somewhere else, Britain perhaps?”
“Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the State of Israel” and “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” are both examples of antisemitism under the International Definition of Antisemitism.
The Guardian has since deleted the comments from its Facebook page and issued an apology.
A spokesperson for the newspaper reportedly said: “We take online abuse and hate speech incidents very seriously and were horrified to see these disgusting and offensive remarks posted underneath a Guardian article on Facebook. Such comments are unacceptable in any circumstances. We removed the Facebook post as soon as the antisemitic comments were brought to our attention overnight. We have since reposted the article and will act as necessary if further such comments occur.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.