Galliano Gets Himself a Jewish Lawyer
Image by Getty Images
Image by Getty Images
“Some people call me anonymously, swear at me,” Stephane Zerbib [tells][1] Israel’s Ynet News.
Though surely upsetting, those phone calls aren’t entirely surprising, given Galliano’s now world-famous anti-Semitic rant, which got him fired from Christian Dior last week. After initial reports of a Jew-baiting tirade at a Parisian cafe, a video of a separate incident went viral online in which Dior announced, “I love Hitler,” and taunted onlookers with comments about their Jewish relatives being “f—ing gassed.”
[1]: > http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4039804,00.html
As Galliano quickly learned, those sorts of comments violate French laws on racial incitement.
Like the skilled lawyer he is, Zerbib claims that Galliano’s rant was out of character, and is attempting to discredit the video. (“Let’s just say that today this video is worth nothing.”)
As for charges of aiding an anti-Semite, he told Ynet, “There are always those who preach, who say, ‘How can a Jew defend anyone accused of such slurs?’ My job as a lawyer is to guarantee that a person gets a fair trial, and that his rights will be protected.”
A fair point, to be sure, and the Shmooze will note that Zerbib has also represented the family of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit — who holds a French passport — in the French legal system.
Jewish or not, Zerbib’s certainly got his work cut out for him in the Galliano case.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Fast Forward 5 Jewish senators accuse Trump of using antisemitism as ‘guise’ to attack universities
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.