Anti-Semitism is real and it's not what people think. It’s a form of racism found among people of all political beliefs and none, and its power and prevalence are often underestimated. These ideas are illustrated by comedian and writer David Baddiel in his book Jews Don’t Count and his Channel 4 documentary of the same name. David spoke to Ryan Tubridy about his work, his family’s experience of the Holocaust and his campaign to raise awareness - particularly on the political left - about the dangers of ignoring the reality of anti-Semitism in the present day.
David Baddiel is in Dublin to speak at an event organised by the organisation Holocaust Awareness Ireland at Trinity College. He tells Ryan his ideas are aimed at people who think of themselves as traditional allies of minorities:
"I’m interested in the people who consider themselves to be anti-racist; sort of right-thinking people who somehow or other, through what we could call unconscious bias, have demoted Jews as a level of concern."
Taking them one by one, David dispels a series of myths that hostility to Jews is grounded in a critique of Israel, in religious observance or on financial status. He says anti-Semitism existed long before the State of Israel, and would exist even if it were to disappear overnight. Wealth did not immunise Jews, including members of his own family, from being murdered by the Nazis. Being an atheist from a Jewish family has not protected David Baddiel himself from slurs and attacks over the years, even as a small child.
David grew up in a small Jewish community in North London in the 1970s. Barely 30 years after the end of WW2, public anti-Semitism was on show outside the gates of his primary school:
"I went to a Jewish primary school; which in fact I visit in the documentary and talk about the security they have to have there now, but I remember going there in the 70’s and people would be out there throwing stones at us and chanting and all the rest of it."
Things have not improved since then, he says. The children at his former school now take "intense" daily security measures for granted; which include drills for potential armed assaults. David recalls an exchange which didn’t appear in the film, when he was asked a question by one of the kids he was reading a story to:
"A child said to me 'Why are you doing this?’ and I said I’m making a film about anti-Semitism and why you have to have security systems at this school. And he went ‘Oh, I thought every school had them.’ And I couldn’t tell him that isn’t the case. I just found it too sad to destroy that innocence."
Even as small children are under constant protection in a Jewish primary school in London in 2023, David says there is constant pushback against the idea that Jews still experience racism and the fear of physical violence. He says people often bring up the oppression of other minorities as a counter-argument; firstly, as if Jews "don’t count" for whatever reason, and secondly, as if Jews disregard any genocide apart from the Holocaust. Both are false, David says. He says that Jews’ brutal experience at the hands of the Nazis is very specific, but it doesn’t exclude empathy for others:
"One of the things that Holocaust Memorial Day and other sort of people who are involved in Holocaust Memorial have said is that it’s very important to remember other atrocities, other genocides. But – there is a specific thing as regards Jews and the specific targeting of Jews at that time, which does occupy a unique position; certainly for Jewish people."
David Baddiel says he’s not interested in pushing any other minorities out of the conversation:
"As far as I’m concerned, there should be a limitless space to talk about this stuff. But I am saying that my lived experience - and I can promise you from the amount of Jews who write to me about this documentary and about this book say the same thing - no lets join the conversation. That doesn’t involve pushing anyone out of it."
Anti-Semitism often comes dressed up as class politics, David says. It plays into the double prejudice that Jews are at once all-powerful and at the same time unworthy of respect. He says taking aim at the wealthy is often done using grotesque anti-Jewish stereotypes; but when challenged, the attack is presented as anti-capitalist and thus immune from racism. David quotes a man who wrote to him after his book came out, which he says sums it up very well:
"’Anti-semitism is the racism that slips past you.’ And I think that’s true. It’s not as obvious to people, sometimes, what is anti-Semitic and what isn’t. I think I’m trying, in a way, to provide some help with that."
Baddiel expresses profound respect for the suffering of other minorities – he is arguing for the specific nature of anti-Semitism to be recognised and respected:
"Everyone’s experience is different. The Irish experience is different, the black experience is different. But the Jewish experience is a very specific one, and that’s the one I’m trying to draw attention to, because maybe it’s being overlooked."
David Baddiel is not optimistic about eradicating anti-Semitism entirely; he just says the nature of history means we have to stay vigilant:
"Unfortunately it doesn’t really end - history is a loop, in my opinion, and that’s why we have to keep watching out for these things."
Tonight's event at Trinity College Dublin is now sold out, but you can hear David Baddiel talk more about his family’s experience with the Holocaust and its enduring effects, why he largely stays out of discussions about Israel and more in the full interview here.