Russian Jews outraged after Stephen Fry compared gay propaganda ban to Nazi Germany
Fry, an openly gay Jewish-British writer, actor, and television host, urged UK Prime Minister David Cameron and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to boycott the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. The move was in response to a recently adopted Russian law which prohibits the propaganda of homosexuality among minors. ■ In an open letter to Cameron and the IOC, he accused Russia of “making scapegoats of gay people, just as Hitler did Jews.” The actor also stated that President Putin “is eerily repeating the insane crime” of Hitler, “only this time against LGBT Russians.” Russia’s Jewish community said it is outraged by Fry’s rhetoric, calling it a provocation. “Unfortunately, yet again we see people attempting to use sacred memory about the genocide against the Jews and the Holocaust for their own purposes,” Russia’s Chief Rabbi, Ben Lazar, told ITAR-TASS on Monday. He believes that such cynicism insults the memory of millions of people who were murdered during World War II “because of their nationality and faith.” The Chief Rabbi emphasized that the gay propaganda ban is in no way aimed at violating the rights of LGBT individuals, but rather serves to protect children “who are open to any kind of influence” from issues surrounding homosexuality.
Gilad Atzmon: Fry-Up ● Historical analogies are dangerous territory, especially when the necessary and even elementary scholarship is lacking. Needless to say that I oppose any form of abuse of human right against Jews, LGBTs, Palestinians or anyone else. However, I also oppose the emerging lame culture of sound bites and empty slogans in which Fry is, unfortunately, a leading exponent.