J.K. Rowling Is Giving A Master Class On Anti-Semitism — And It’s Magic
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By Ron Kampeas April 18, 2018
(JTA) — There’s an unsettling debate underway in Britain about whether the right or the left is more anti-Semitic, and videos of Jewish members of Parliament reading out some of the anti-Semitic invective they’ve suffered have gone viral.
J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, decided to weigh in on Wednesday, defining anti-Semitism for her 14.4 million Twitter followers.
She posted a screen grab of a non-Jew gentile-splaining what Judaism is — “Judaism is a religion not a race” — and gently explained why this is hardly relevant to defining anti-Jewish bias.
“Most UK Jews in my timeline are currently having to field this kind of crap, so perhaps some of us non-Jews should start shouldering the burden,” she said. “Antisemites think this is a clever argument, so tell us, do: were atheist Jews exempted from wearing the yellow star? #antisemitism.”
Most UK Jews in my timeline are currently having to field this kind of crap, so perhaps some of us non-Jews should start shouldering the burden. Antisemites thinks this is a clever argument, so tell us, do: were atheist Jews exempted from wearing the yellow star? #antisemitism pic.twitter.com/H5xLLXTdQO
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 18, 2018
Rowling’s head-smacking was almost audible as she sorted through responses to that tweet, including one that said arguing against anti-Semitism was “culturally insensitive” to Muslims. “When you only understand bigotry in terms of ‘pick a team’ and get a mind-boggling response,” she said.
When you only understand bigotry in terms of “pick a team” and get a mind- boggling response. pic.twitter.com/nh391nPTcC
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 18, 2018
Seeing anti-Semitism everywhere? J.K., welcome to our nightmare.
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