In his most recent book, The Taming of the Jew, Tuvia Tenenbom reports on his travels through the British Isles, where he has been practicing his signature form of undercover journalism: engaging both ordinary people and politicians in conversations about Jews and Israel, and documenting the results. David Herman writes in his review:
Tenenbom manages to catch people off guard with his disarming honesty and in no time they are coming out with these astonishing views about Israel, Jews, and anti-Semitism. Everyone he meets in Ireland, North or South, seems to hate Israel and love the Palestinians and yet Tenenbom likes them all and enjoys everything he sees about the Irish.
He puts some of these encounters online and “Irish people respond in writing.” What do they say? “Truly the Jews are a disgusting species.” “Reminds me I need to get some new lampshades, some soap too.” He’s not remotely bothered. It’s as if, unlike every mainstream journalist, he knows this is what people are like, that you don’t have to probe far under the surface to find the most appalling views about Jews and Israel.
Then on to England. He . . . manages to finally track down the elusive [former Labor-party leader and notorious Israel-hater] Jeremy Corbyn, whom he considers a symptom, more than a cause, of British anti-Semitism. In Newcastle, an Amnesty International bookstore has posters that say, “Millions of Palestinians will be DENIED human rights today. . . .” He meets students with “swastikas and anti-Semitic hate lines” on their T-shirts. In Sheffield, a sports fan, asked to provide his contact information after the game, writes, “I hate Jews.”
What surprises Tenenbom most about his time in England is that English Jews, even members of the House of Lords, are in denial and don’t want to make a fuss.
More about: Anti-Semitism, Ireland, Jeremy Corbyn, United Kingdom