Pulitzer author endorses Icke book
ALICE WALKER, the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Color Purple, has been criticised after naming a book by notorious antisemite David Icke among those on her nightstand.
Mr Icke, a former BBC sports broadcaster turned conspiracy theorist, is known for his references to “Rothschild Zionists” controlling world events, and promotes the ideas of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
When asked what books are on her nightstand by the New York Times Book Review, Ms Walker said she was reading four titles, one of which was Mr Icke’s And the Truth Shall Set You Free.
“In Icke’s books there is the whole of existence, on this planet and several others, to think about. A curious person’s dream come true,” she said.
The paper reported the recommendation without commentary, meaning some readers will have been unaware the book is full of antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Mr Icke mentions the word “Jewish” in the book 241 times and “Rothschild” 374 times, according to The Tablet.
Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said he was “deeply disappointed” by the New York Times’s decision to publish.
He told the JC: “[David Icke’s] book And the Truth Shall Set You Free calls Judaism an ‘incredibly racist’ religion which preaches ‘racial superiority’ claims that a ‘Jewish clique’ fomented World War I and World War II as well as the Russian Revolution, and draws heavily on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion for inspiration. He even casts doubt on the Holocaust and condemns the Nuremberg Trials.
“He has a long history of scapegoating Jews and New York Times readers should be aware of this before considering his work.”
Mr Icke’s book was considered to be so antisemitic that his former publisher refused to publish it and he was forced to print it himself. It describes the Talmud as “among the most appallingly racist documents on the planet.”
But this was not the first time Ms Walker has praised the work of Mr Icke
In 2013, she described his book Human Race Get Off Your Knees as “amazing” and chose to be cast away with it on BBC Radio Four’s Desert Island Discs.
She wrote of the book: “Reading it was the ultimate reading adventure. I felt it was the first time I was able to observe, and mostly imagine and comprehend, the root of the incredible evil that has engulfed our planet.”