This is nonsense. That was NOT her question. This was her question:
Following the macaca episode, the Jewish press published a story on the Internet that explored your possible Jewish ancestry on your mother's side. You've been quoted as saying your mother's not Jewish, but it had been reported her father, your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish. Could you please tell us whether your forebearers include Jews, and if so, at which point Jewish identity might have ended?
That is in no way equivalent to "So senator, how was the holocaust for your family?" She didn't "know more than the Senator did" (he had been told at least a couple of months earlier). There is no shame in being Jewish, Allen might even have helped eliminate some of the anti-semitism that remains in this country if he had answered it, he could have educated people about religious persecution and the fear of being a minority. But no, he chose not to do those things. The questioner was giving him a gift that he refused to take.
He is a small minded guy, IMO. I doubt this revelation will hurt or help him very much, except perhaps it will turn Jewish people who feel the same way I do against him. If someone wants to convert from anything to anything, that is their business, but to deny your past, to hide, and, if you are in the position he is in, to neglect to educate people about the problems that minorities face--that is not a person I would for. |
