Alice Walker is receiving heavy criticism after she endorsed a book penned by an anti-Semitic author.
Walker endorsed professional conspiracy theorist David Icke’s And the Truth Shall Set You Free during an interview with The New York Times.
“In Icke’s books, there is the whole of existence, on this planet and several others, to think about. A curious person’s dream come true,” she said.
In the book, Icke declared Jewish advocacy group Anti-Defamation League was partially responsible for the Holocaust, according to excerpts acquired by The Tablet.
Icke writes:
“The Jewish members of the conspiracy have used an organisation called The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as an instrument to try to convince everyone that any mention of the Rothschilds and their allies is an attack on all Jews. In this way, they have stifled almost all honest scholarship on international bankers and made the subject taboo within universities. Any individual or book exploring this subject is immediately attacked by hundreds of ADL communities all over the country. The ADL has never let the truth or logic interfere with its highly professional smear jobs … Actually, nobody has a right to be more angry at the Rothschild clique than their fellow Jews. The Warburgs, part of the Rothschild empire, helped finance Adolf Hitler.”
The author also accused Jewish people of staging hate crimes.
“If you really want to discredit someone, you arrange for anti-Jewish or anti-whatever events such as the smashing of graves, assaults on people, even a terrorist bomb in the extreme,” he wrote. “You then point the finger at your target person or group. You say they are either directly responsible or ‘incited’ the actions by what they are writing and saying.”
Walker’s endorsement drew the ire of the Jewish community and their allies who believe Icke, a former pro soccer player, uses conspiracy theories to justify his anti-Semitism.
Alice Walker isn't "sad" or "heartbreaking" or a special case deserving careful consideration. She's promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and should be treated like anyone else using their platform to spread racist lies.
— Nathaniel Friedman (@freedarko) December 17, 2018
alice walker really really really hates jews so there's that https://t.co/3XzEgE68oC
— Talia Lavin (@chick_in_kiev) December 17, 2018
Here's the part that bothers me. I assume @nytimesbooks didn't know Walker had strayed into crazytown when it conducted this interview. But once that emerged maybe it shoulda become the focus of the story instead of being glossed over in a light feature?https://t.co/TMCtRo1ax3
— Daniel Radosh (@danielradosh) December 15, 2018
lol @ Alice Walker recommending "in depth study" of Talmud via YouTube while promoting centuries-old antisemitic libels about Jews and "goyim". Unsurprising from a woman who refused to even let her book be translated into Hebrew. https://t.co/IQjqbGErWU
— Shiri Moshe (@shirimoshe) December 17, 2018
Seeing Alice Walker promote David Icke, Britain's leading antisemitic conspiracy theorist, in the New York Times, has profoundly depressed me. I mean, fucking hell. #antisemitism
https://t.co/HFChXSxSKu— Aargh aargh AAARGH! (@cdaargh) December 16, 2018
To be honest, I don't want to belabor this Alice Walker thing because I don't want to know the answer, which is, most people just don't give a shit about anti-Semitism, especially if it's coming from a beloved cultural figure.
— רח״ל (@RokhlK) December 17, 2018
The Anti-Defamation League also commented on Walker's views:
We’re deeply disappointed that @nytimes would print Alice Walker’s unqualified endorsement of a book by notorious anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist David Icke. We have asked editors to update the review w/ information about this author's #antiSemitism
https://t.co/C7cse1xxYt— ADL (@ADL_National) December 17, 2018
The situation is also being discussed among the Black Twitter community.
Anti-Semitism is unacceptable, period. I'm saddened that I was unaware and that's due to my own ignorance of much of Alice Walker's rhetoric outside of her work to recognize Zora Neale Hurston. https://t.co/zbKNwudi4O
— Jenn Baker (@jbakernyc) December 18, 2018
Let me take a page out of the wypipo handbook, the ‘I can’t be racist because’ page…#AliceWalker & Mel Leventhal were the 1st legally married interracial couple in MS following SCOTUS banning miscegenation laws. He was JEWISH.
She was mentored by Howard Zinn, he was JEWISH.
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) December 18, 2018
Black men been telling y'all about Alice Walker for decades.
— Torraine Walker (@TorraineWalker) December 18, 2018
Alice Walker has been antisemitic for a long time. She embraces a lot of harmful conspiracy theories that purposely target Jewish communities. And sadly, antisemitism is common among other Black people of her generation.
— Evette Dionne ????????♀️ (@freeblackgirl) December 18, 2018
Walker has not commented on the controversy, but The New York Times is distancing itself from the issue, reports The Wrap.
“By the Book is an interview and portrait of a public person through the lens of books; it is not a list of recommendations from our editors. The subject’s answers are a reflection on that person’s personal tastes, opinions and judgments,” a Times spokesperson said of the editorial series.
“As with any interview, the subject’s answers do not imply an endorsement by Times editors," they continued. "Moreover, our editors do not offer background or weigh in on the books named in the By the Book column, whether the subject issues a positive or negative judgment on those books. Many people recommend books Times editors dislike, disdain or even abhor in the column.”
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