Gilead Ini
CAMERA, Sept. 9, 2024
“… in a world where young people are increasingly clueless about what the Holocaust was, it may be more useful to look at Albanese’s more precise affronts, especially (but not limited to) her comments related to the massacre of October 7.”
When Holocaust denier Gilad Atzmon wrote a book about the evils of Jewishness, it was well–received by the white supremacist community. For the book’s main promotional blurb, though, the author turned to a more credentialed, and less expected, source.
From the front of the book’s dust jacket, the United Nations “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967” announces that Atzmon’s antisemitic screed is a must-read. The rapporteur, Richard Falk, also praises Atzmon’s “unflinching integrity” — just as Atzmon has lauded Holocaust denier David Irving’s integrity, or how David Irving in turn has gushed over the “great man” Adolf Hitler.
To describe Falk as being three degrees of separation from Hitler fandom is to understate the links — this a chain of endorsement, not of acquaintance. But let’s forget Irving and Hitler and remain focused on the first-degree problem: The UN Special Rapporteur enthusiastically endorsed a well-known, flagrant antisemite. He did so while hawking a book that, among countless other swipes at the Jews, goes out of its way to sympathize with the view that “Hitler was right after all.”
Falk’s endorsement appeared in 2011, the same year he published a cartoon of a bloodthirsty dog wearing a kippah (Jewish head covering), and the same year he promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories. His UN mandate has since expired. But the same process that put one extremist in the role elevated another in his place. Francesca Albanese is the new Richard Falk.
Although Special Rapporteur Albanese may not have endorsed Gilad Atzmon’s book, she certainly doesn’t find such endorsements problematic. For example, she hosted, praised, and promoted an event at which Falk, Atzmon’s eager advocate, was a speaker. Worse, it was an event that purported to teach what is, and what is not, antisemitic. Worse yet, Falk was there as an expert, not an exhibit.… [To read the full article, click here]