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Mamet: profound taint of antisemitism in UK

June 13, 2011 16:05
David Mamet

ByJennifer Lipman, Jennifer Lipman

1 min read

A playwright celebrated for his observations of modern life has criticised the "ineradicable taint of antisemitism" in British society.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the Chicago-born Jewish writer David Mamet said that modern speakers were using the same antisemitic arguments that Charles Lindbergh and Oswald Mosley made in the 1930s.

He said: "The speeches that are the same speeches that are being made today, only slightly more politely: 'The Jews are bringing us to war. Perhaps we should give their state away."

Mr Mamet, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his play Glengarry Glen Ross, said there was a profound taint of antisemitism in British life. He referred to the "stock Jew characterisations" of authors including Anthony Trollope and George Eliot, but said the problem had not gone away.