OPINION: David Baddiel’s harmful stereotypes about Jewish people count
Any gains made by David Baddiel's book and TV documentary Jews Don’t Count are negated by the creator himself engaging in dangerous generalisations, writes Hen Mazzig.
Hen Mazzig is a former lieutenant in the Coordination of Government Activities in the Terrorities. He shares his story with campuses and Jewish communities around the world.
In his 2021 book Jews Don’t Count, English Jewish comedian David Baddiel urges the non-Jewish world to see Jewish humanity while calling out how certain elements of progressive identity politics have failed Jews in particular. In the wake of a recent surge in antisemitism in the US and the UK, Baddiel’s project appears to be particularly acute.
Unfortunately, any gains made by the book – and subsequent documentary of the same title that recently aired on Channel 4 – are immediately negated by the creator engaging in harmful stereotypes about Jewish people. Though it may appear Baddiel is ringing the alarm in an effort to protect Jews writ large, it turns out that he is only talking about his kind of Jews.
Baddiel’s attempt to galvanise support for Jews by encouraging non-Jews to fight stereotypes that harm our people falls flat as he commits the very sins he rails against by stereotyping and isolating a wide swath of his own community.
Baddiel commits the very sins he rails against by stereotyping and isolating a wide swath of his own community.
Baddiel’s first transgression comes when he denies any connection that Jews have to the state of Israel. When asked about his position on Israel, he writes, “I don’t care about it more than any other country and to assume I do is racist.” He also says that his family’s history of escaping the Nazis during the Holocaust has nothing to do with Israel, which he dismisses as simply “a Middle Eastern country 3,000 miles away.”
Of course, Jews shouldn’t be obligated to have to defend every decision made by the Israeli government. But Baddiel’s disposition is ignorant of the history and culture of the Jewish people.
In my book The Wrong Kind of Jew: A Mizrahi Manifesto, I carefully map the history of the Jewish people, which began in the land of Israel thousands of years ago. If not for our people being continually exiled and exterminated throughout the centuries, we would have remained there – in fact, almost half of world Jewry still does.
Further, in his unempathetic repudiation of Israel, Baddiel disseminates harmful stereotypes about Israeli Jews. “Israelis aren’t very Jewish anyway,” he writes, calling us “too macho, too ripped and aggressive and confident” while oddly highlighting a Jewish character he made up with the catchphrase, “Jews without angst, without guilt. So not really Jews at all.”
As a Mizrahi Jew of Iraqi and Tunisian heritage, it’s difficult to not see Baddiel’s work as a direct attack on me and my community.
I’m sorry, but did a prominent Jewish figure really make a movie about a book in which he claims who is and isn’t Jewish? Not to mention that the film aired on a primetime network with critics calling it “thoughtful,” “fascinating and timely,” “powerful and important,” and worthy of a 5-star review.
As a Mizrahi Jew of Iraqi and Tunisian heritage, it’s difficult to not see Baddiel’s work as a direct attack on me and my community. To wholly dismiss the connection between Israel and the Jewish people while making uneducated determinations about what characteristics constitute a “real” Jew is a slap in the face to the 53 percent of Israeli Jews whose diasporic experience was in the Middle East and North Africa.
So while Baddiel appears desperate for the non-Jewish world to recognise the antisemitic or racist ideas they hold about Jews, his entire perspective is drenched in racism against his own people.
In his repudiation of Israel, Baddiel disseminates harmful stereotypes about Israeli Jews.
Baddiel further exacerbates antisemitism within our own community by who he elects to interview for his film—or more importantly, who he elects to not interview. The Guardian heralded the film’s “all star” cast, headlined by celebrities like David Schwimmer, Sarah Silverman, and Stephen Fry.
Though I like these individuals for their cinematic contributions, is this who we really needed to hear from?
Though the film does feature a couple of interviews with Jews of colour, this is a far cry from the full representation we deserve in a movie about racism. Even worse, no interviews were conducted (or at least made the final cut) with Israeli Jews or Orthodox Jews, two groups who are most often victims of violent forms of antisemitism. Rather, the cast was mostly wealthy and powerful Jews who for the most part can pass as white.
Baddiel emphatically asserts he is European, an atheist and has no connection to Israel while trying to convince the viewer to understand that Jews suffer from racism.
Overall, Baddiel’s film is a 70-minute contradiction wherein he emphatically asserts that he is European, an atheist, and has no connection to Israel all while trying to convince the viewer to understand that Jews suffer from racism. The reality is that Baddiel tries to have it both ways, by painting Jews as exclusively European (other than a few anomalies) but then arguing that Jews are not White.
If Baddiel had only met with Israelis for his film, he might have realised that our disconnect is simply due to the fact that we have a different culture. The Jewish people are beautiful and diverse, a fact we should embrace and not reject.
Even if he detests our culture, it is still valid and will not disappear. Ignoring this crucial part of Jewish history and only recognising a modern Jewish identity does nothing to put an end to antisemitism. In fact it only erases my community’s Jewish identity.
I’m sorry Mr. Baddiel, but all Jews count, not just some.
Hen Mazzig is a writer and the author of The Wrong Kind of Jew: A Mizrahi Manifesto. He is a Senior Fellow at The Tel Aviv Institute. Follow him: @henmazzig
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
