ADL slams Beck for 'offensive' comments about Soros
By DANIEL CLINTON
LAST UPDATED: 11/11/2010 21:06
Abe Foxman criticizes as "repugnant" Fox News commentator's comments that Jewish billionaire "helped send Jews to death camps."
Glenn Beck, center, holds hands with faith leaders at the "Restoring Honor" rally in front of the Li Photo: Associated Press
The Anti-Defamation
League on Thursday criticized as “completely inappropriate and
offensive” remarks by Glenn Beck on his radio and television programs,
in which he drew a link between the behavior of US Jewish billionaire investor George Soros as a young boy and the actions of others in sending Jews to death
camps during the Holocaust.
On his October 10 radio show, Beck
described how Soros, who was born in Hungary to Orthodox Jewish parents,
“used to go around with this anti-Semite and deliver papers to the Jews
and confiscate their property and then ship them off. And George Soros
was part of it. He would help confiscate the stuff. It was frightening.
Here’s a Jewish boy helping send the Jews to the death camps.”
RELATED:
Soros a secret J Street donor since ’08
'Help us restore American values'
ADL national director Abe Foxman released a statement slamming the Fox News commentator's criticism of Soros.
"Glenn Beck’s description of George Soros’s actions during the Holocaust
is completely inappropriate, offensive and over the top. For a
political commentator or entertainer to have the audacity to say –
inaccurately – that there’s a Jewish boy sending Jews to death camps, as
part of a broader assault on Mr. Soros, that’s horrific," said Foxman.
Foxman, a holocaust survivor, added that while he too sometimes
disagrees with Soros, known for his support of left-wing causes
and occasional criticism of Israel, Beck's comments were unacceptable.
"To hold a young boy responsible for what was going on around him during
the Holocaust as part of a larger effort to denigrate the man is
repugnant. The Holocaust was a horrific time, and many people had to
make excruciating choices to ensure their survival. George Soros has
been forthright about his childhood experiences and his family’s
history, and there the matter should rest," added Foxman.