JK Rowling urges non-Jews to ‘shoulder the burden’ for tackling anti-Semitism
Harry Potter author urges her 14.4 million Twitter followers to intervene in instances of abuse towards Jews online
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
The bestselling author of the Harry Potter books waded into the anti-Semitism debate yesterday by suggesting it’s time that non-Jews “start shouldering the burden”.
Writing on social media on Wednesday, J.K Rowling, who has 14.4 million followers on Twitter, sounded exasperated when she highlighted a seemingly “innocent” post stating that “Judaism is a religion and not a race”. Presumably, the post added, this was a “defence” against being called racist.
But Rowling was having none of it. She wrote: “Most UK Jews in my timeline are currently having to field this kind of crap, so perhaps some of us non-Jews should start shouldering the burden. Anti-Semites think this is a clever argument, so tell us, do: were atheist Jews exempted from wearing the yellow star? #antisemitism”.
Almost immediately the writer received nearly 2,000 “likes” and hundreds of re-tweets. Many of the respondents were Jewish users of Twitter who thanked her for her timely intervention and support.
Most UK Jews in my timeline are currently having to field this kind of crap, so perhaps some of us non-Jews should start shouldering the burden. Antisemites thinks this is a clever argument, so tell us, do: were atheist Jews exempted from wearing the yellow star? #antisemitism pic.twitter.com/H5xLLXTdQO
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 18, 2018
Her move came a few hours after the comedian David Baddiel received an abusive message in response to his thanking a woman who had enjoyed his one-man show, currently on tour in Durham.
When Baddiel replied that “my geography teacher would be proud of me”. he received this message: “You disgusting yid, nobody is proud of you. I bet you can smell the change in my pocket.” Baddiel concluded ironically: “Antisemitism isn’t a real thing.” Rowling saw the exchange and decided to intervene more generally several hours later.
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The overwhelming majority of people whose focus is 'what the troll wants' have never personally experienced abuse or threats. How about we focus on what the victims want? My experience is that most of them would really like the rest of us not to look the other way. pic.twitter.com/kwVZUbqvez
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 18, 2018
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