Anthony Julius On Desert Island Discs

Did anyone catch the recent “Desert Island Discs” featuring Anthony Julius who was Lady Diana`s lawyer?

He had said that he was Jewish and loved English Literature enough to have wanted for some time to teach it.
At the end she presumed to offer him a copy of the Torah – and he protested saying that he wanted the full King James Version of the Bible so he would still have access to the beauties of the New Testament.

The BBC is full of this anti-Christian presumption. I assume that Kirsty and team did not already know that the Torah IS the Old Testament – but are they not commiting (by their lights!) the cardinal sins of stereotyping and patronising a Jewish person to presume that he might automatically take the Torah? Julius deserves credit for being so forbearing of the caricaturing!

Add this to the “Good Rebellion, Sir” stance that they take as a matter of course with this question at the end. A David Walliams and the like are somewhat lionised as and when they refuse the offer of the Bible by the admiring Kirsty and her ilk…seems to be desired even to show how much against “The Man” they all are!

Note: This item was submitted by Chris Hartnett. If you spot anything you think merits inclusion please contact us here.

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9 Responses to Anthony Julius On Desert Island Discs

  1. piggy kosher says:

    This makes an excellent companion piece to Sues’ excellent last posting exposing anti Israeli/Jewish coverage of the media as far back as 2002.
    It further reinforces the sheer bloody ignorance of beeboid/guarardianistas knowledge and insight to Jewish history and culture/belief systems.
    “Veerry poor”, to quote the remarkable Vic Reeves.
    Bloody LOL!

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  2. poochie says:

    I have a few barrels at home that need the bottoms scraping. Bowing to your expertise, can you sort that out for me?

    Cheers.

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    • deegee says:

      I’d vote for patronising ignorance rather than malice, here?  
       
      FYI Jews do not take a Torah with them when they travel and I doubt Anthony Julius has the Hebrew or the religious education to read one. The image I have added will explain how impractical one would be on a desert island.  
       
      Many deeply religious Jews would take a copy of Tehillim (Psalms) with them as the tradition is to read one psalm a day. A scholar might ask for the Talmud. This comes in multi volumes rather like an encyclopedia. Perhaps the Kindle version would be more practical, at least until the batteries ran out?  
       
      No one has asked me to appear on Desert Island Discs but the Jewish Boys’ Guide to Raft Building and Fire Starting might be appropriate. 

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      • poochie says:

        You should just vote for patronising. But that’s like a vote for the status quo, so if you think that’s patronising, you support Gordon Brown on everything.

        Life is just a trade-off, isn’t it?

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    • Travis Bickle says:

      Is that a gay term Scott?

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      • Travis Bickle says:

        “I have a few barrels at home that need the bottoms scraping.”

        This isn’t Gaydar Scott.

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  3. John Anderson says:

    I enjoyed the crisp way he asked for the King james version – sign of an educated man !

    (OT I dealt with him back in 1989, before he was famous,  he was at Mishcon de Reya acting for Rupert Murdoch whom I was suing for breach of copyright.   Julius settled as soon as he saw the writ I had prepared – as a layman – and was exceedingly polite.  If I knew he was gonna be such a legal hotshot I might have asked for a larger settlement !)

    Nice guy,  his record shows it,  not just a clever professional)

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  4. David Preiser (USA) says:

    I vote for patronizing ignorance.  But at least she pronounced it with the accent on the proper syllable.  But she should have done the tiniest bit of research first and perhaps come up with the Tanach (an acronym for the three overall sections of what is referred to by non-Jews as The Old Testament), as that includes not only the first five books, but the Psalms, Lamentations, all the other prophets, etc.  Instead she did the equivalent of offering a secularized Christian just the Gospels without the rest of the Christian Bible.  It’s no wonder Julius was taken aback.

    Even though there are apparently quite a few Jews working at the BBC, I guess either the producer didn’t bother asking any of them, or the Jewish Beeboids just don’t have the first clue about their own heritage.  Either way, it doesn’t reflect well on the BBC’s “diversity and inclusion”.

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