JPost Will Host Roseanne Barr Despite Her Calling Israel A ‘Nazi State’
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By Aiden Pink April 3, 2018
Updated, 3:00 p.m.
The Jerusalem Post’s annual conference in New York later this month will feature Roseanne Barr, the Jewish actress and comedian who has frequently promoted conspiracy theories alleging Democratic ties to pedophiles and once called Israel “a Nazi state.”
Barr, whose TV comedy “Roseanne” is one of this year’s biggest hits, is outspoken, especially on Twitter, about her support for Israel and conservative causes. As The Daily Beast reported, she has also frequently tweeted about the “QAnon” conspiracy theory, which alleges that prominent Democrats are running a satanic child-sex-trafficking ring. The theory originated on 4chan, a website known for featuring many racist and “alt-right” users.
“We look forward to hearing Roseanne Barr speak at our conference in New York on April 29,” The Jerusalem Post said in a statement. “As demonstrated by the high ratings (18.2 million viewers) of her new show, Roseanne is today one of the most prominent pro-Israel actors on TV. We are, however, not responsible for comments or tweets made by any of the scheduled speakers at our conference. If the Forward has a question about a specific comment, we recommend it refer the question to the speaker.”
Barr tweeted about QAnon as recently as last week, though she deleted her tweet. She also deleted a tweet defending her actions, saying, “i thought today was a good day to talk about freeing kids from sex slavery, since it is Passover. I didn’t realize that so many were not aware of it. Anyway, no more opinions from me on twitter, it invites bullying. Moving on.”
Barr has also promoted theories that Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was murdered by Democratic operatives because Rich leaked information to Wikileaks — a claim that has caused members of Rich’s family to sue others promoting such ideas. Barr has also shared content from conspiracist sites like InfoWars and Gateway Pundit, including claims that 5.7 million “illegals” voted in the 2016 presidential election.
In the past few years, Barr has emerged as one of Twitter’s most prominent supporters of Israel. After students at the University of California, Davis voted in 2015 to boycott companies that do business in Israel, she tweeted, “I hope all the jews leave UC Davis & then it gets nuked!”
But she did not always support the Jewish state – in 2009, after the Israel Defense Forces stormed Gaza-bound flotillas, she wrote harsh criticism of Israel on her personal blog.
“Israel is a NAZI state,” she wrote. “The Jewish soul is being tortured in Israel.”
Her comments were reported at the time in The Jerusalem Post.
The Post’s annual conference in New York usually features prominent Israeli and American Jewish figures. Other speakers this year include Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, Sen. Ben Cardin, New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, and sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer.
But the conference has also featured controversial speakers. Last year, they hosted then-White House counterterrorism advisor Sebastian Gorka, even after the Forward reported his ties to a Nazi-allied Hungarian group.
Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink
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