Slipping through the net
David Baddiel explores why anti-semitism is so often ignored…
DAVID BADDIEL: JEWS DON’T COUNT Monday, 9pm, C4 Factual
Comedian and writer David Baddiel has turned his attention in recent years to making documentaries on issues close to his heart, such as the toxic world of social media and Holocaust denial. And this week David, who’s Jewish, looks at anti-semitism.
He doesn’t focus on blatant anti-semitism, however, but rather on those who stand up for other minority groups, yet don’t do the same for Jews.
Double standards
‘We don’t count in the conversation about racism,’ says David. ‘We don’t count in the very places where discrimination is being fought against.’
David talks to a number of Jewish stars, including
David Schwimmer, Miriam Margolyes and Sarah Silverman, who share their views on how discrimination
Ally… David (left) meets David Schwimmer
against Jews is allowed to exist in a way it wouldn’t with other minorities, for example non-jews being cast to play Jews in Hollywood films.
‘David Schwimmer got in touch with me via Instagram to tell me how much my book [2021’s Jews Don’t Count] had meant to him and I thought,
“I’ll just ask him if he’ll do a documentary,”’ says David. He also addresses his own racist behaviour, revisiting the time he blacked up to mock footballer Jason Lee on TV show Fantasy Football League in the 1990s.
David, who has previously publicly apologised for the sketch, meets Jason to say sorry in person. ‘That day was difficult,’ says David. ‘But it was a really healthy conversation.’