July 7, 2010
Anthony Julius and anti-Semitism in England
There are many reasons why you should know the name Anthony Julius.
He earned the bulk of his fame for serving as Princess Diana’s divorce lawyer. He’s also the author of “T.S. Eliot, Anti-Semitism and Literary Form,” a well-received book on the poet’s employment of anti-Semitism in his verse.
In addition, Julius represented Emory University professor Deborah Lipstadt when a Holocaust denier sued her for libel. David Irving did not like what Lipstadt wrote about him in her 1994 book, “Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory.” Fortunately, Judge Charles Gray sided with Lipstadt following a trial in early 2000 and issued a judgment calling Irving, among other things, “anti-Semitic and racist.”
Julius has continued the battle against anti-Semitism and recently published a book called, “Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England.”
From what I’ve read, it is an unsparing account of anti-Jewish acts in England, beginning with the medieval prosecution of Jews — including King Edward I’s expulsion of Jews from England – and continuing on up through to modern times when much of the world’s anti-Semitism comes in the form of Israel-bashing.
Speaking of modern times, Julius in 2007 vowed to fight English academic boycotts of Israeli universities. The Guardian published an article about the row and noted that Julius believed Israel was “being treated as ‘uniquely evil’ – in contrast to the attitude towards India’s position in Kashmir or China’s in Tibet – in a way that is reminiscent of the anti-Semitism of the medieval Christian church.”
In reviewing “Trials of the Diaspora” for the New York Times, Harold Bloom called the 811-page tome “a strong, somber book on an appalling subject.” Here’s more from the review:
At his frequent best, Julius refreshes by a mordant tonality, as when he catalogs the types of English anti-Semites. The height of his argument comes where his book will be most controversial: his comprehensive account of the newest English anti-Semitism.
To protest the policies of the Israeli government actually can be regarded as true philo-Semitism, but to disallow the existence of the Jewish state is another matter. Of the nearly 200 recognized nation-states in the world today, something like at least half are more reprehensible than even the worst aspects of Israel’s policy toward the Palestinians. A curious blindness informs the shifting standards of current English anti-Zionism.
I admire Julius for the level tone with which he discusses this sanctimonious intelligentsia, who really will not rest until Israel is destroyed.
For his part, Philip Roth called the book “an essential history,” and said “it is fortunate it has been written by a man with the extraordinary fluency, staggering erudition, scholarly integrity, intellectual acumen, and more discernment of Anthony Julius.”
Indeed, it’s just one more reason why you should know the name.
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Pretty small point, but are you sure Anthony Julius is not Jewish? I heard an interview with him recently where he described himself as a ” moderate observant Jew” coming from a traditional Jewish home. If he isn’t it adds a different complexion to his work and if you are wrong, to your article.
Thanks for pointing that out. I’m not in town so I can’t check my notes but I will when I get back. In the meantime, I’ve removed that line from the article, just in case.