Julie Burchill On Anti-Semitism? Er, No

In an editorial decision that will surprise no-one, the increasingly alt-right Spectator magazine has given Islamophobic pundit Julie Burchill a platform to pontificate on the subject of anti=Semitism, on which she is eminently well-qualified, but not necessarily for the reasons she would have us believe. The targets of her ire are younger and far better off than she is, but this is not an example of embittered jealousy, oh no.

Julie Burchill

The resulting article, “The problem with Palestine’s showbiz supporters”, presses all the right (well, alt-right, anyway) buttons in its first line: “One of the many reasons I hate wokers is because they indulge so shamelessly in what Bebel coined ‘the socialism of fools’ - anti-Semitism - under the convenient cover of sticking up for the Palestinians”.

Judaism and the State of Israel ...

... are not the same thing. Know the difference

And it is here where Ms Burchill - predictably - goes wrong, equating criticism of the state of Israel with anti-Semitism. Predictably, because she has been here before, of which more later. Moreover, the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism makes clear that equating Jews with Israel is in itself anti-Semitic, and Ms Burchill has been there before, too.

Not even the folks at the Jewish Chronicle are prepared to give her a free pass, as Lee Harpin showed when he observed “Julie Burchill's decision to turn to Tabatha Stirling,of Stirling Publishing, to bring out her latest book is beyond the pale. In recordings made as Miss Brittania, Stirling's racism, antisemitism and homophobia is there to be heard. As is her support for Patriotic Alternative”. And her explicit anti-Semitism is worse.

As Nathan Oseroff-Spicer discovered when he read Ms Burchill’s book “Unchosen: The Memoirs of a Philo-Semite”, it wasn’t exactly difficult to find. She said of her copy of the Torah “we cut our thumbs, smeared our mixed blood on the title page and he agreed with me that ‘Now we’re with them, whatever happens’”. Oseroff-Spicer asked “You're telling me Julie Burchill claims to have desecrated the most sacred object in Judaism?”

He referenced one passage in the Burchill tome thus: “For the edification of non-Jews reading this passage, this is not philo-Semitism, the purported love of Jews, but rather two clear cases of antisemitism, i.e. (1) asserting the state of Israel is identical to Jewish identity and (2) no one is genuinely Jewish by choice”. And there was more.

Noting Ms Burchill’s claim “Considering that so many Muslim movements fought on the side of the Fascists during the [Second World] War”, he added “She's gonna lift the top off her cranium when she finds out about all the non-Muslims who sided with the fascists, you know, like the majority of people who sided with the fascists”. Well, quite.

The Tweeter known as Jews Sans Frontières has recently reminded us of another unfortunate incident from Ms Burchill’s back catalogue: "Having said I shouldn't indulge flagrantly racist Julie Burchill I didn't realise she drew inspiration from the Nazis. Calling a woman she is baiting for being a Muslim, a SOW, is truly inspired stuff from the deepest roots of German antisemitism”. Yet there is the Speccy giving her a platform.

And there is the Speccy’s head man Andrew Neil Tweeting out a link to the article. It’s almost as if some people don’t actually understand anti-Semitism - they just talk about it.

Julie Burchill has no room to call anti-Semitism on others. Given she’s done it herself.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by adding to its Just Giving page at

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/zelostreet9