Zuckerberg: ‘As A Jew’ I’ve Wondered My Whole Life Why Nazis Hate

By Helen Chernikoff August 17, 2017

The mustering of neo-Nazis and white supremacists at Charlottesville on August 12 has caused some Jews not normally known for foregrounding that part of the identity to do so. Trump consigliere Michael Cohen did so on Twitter, trying to defend himself from charges of racism-by-association. Now Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has chimed in on his platform of choice.

Cohen brandished his [Holocaust survivor parent](by brandishing both his Holocaust survivor parent and his African-American friends) and his African-American friends to double down on his “support of Potus,” Zuckerberg went the other way on Wednesday: “As a Jew,” he wrote, he’s doing some public soul-searching, and has even taken quick action.

Facebook deleted posts from a well-known white supremacist blog, and Zuck vowed to watch keep watching closely, and remove threats of physical harm.

Some pointed out that he had a lot more work to do.

tfw you built a machine that broke politics but it made you rich so you don’t want to admit it https://t.co/kPUmEmQZzE

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) August 17, 2017

Fortunately for all, as CNN anchor Jake Tapper tweeted helpfully, the High Holidays are coming.

Gonna be an uncomfortable Yom Kippur for some folks.

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 16, 2017

Contact Helen Chernikoff at [email protected] or on Twitter @thesimplechild

Helen Chernikoff is the Forward’s News Editor. She came to the Forward from The Jewish Week, where she served as the first web director and created both a blog dedicated to disability issues and a food and wine website. Before that, she covered the housing, lodging and logistics industries for Reuters, where she could sit at her desk and watch her stories move the stock market. Helen has a Master’s of Public Administration from Columbia University and a BA in History and French from Amherst College. She is also a rabbinical school dropout. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @thesimplechild.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO