“This book and film are designed to incite hatred and, now that they have been disseminated by Mr. Irving, will lead directly to harm to Jews.”
“These views are not a different view of history, but blatant anti-Semitic hate. It amplifies the Jewish metaphor.”
The American Jewish Commission also asked its supporters to help “urge Amazon to reaffirm its commitment to combating anti-Semitism by removing this anti-Semitism.”
Amazon did not immediately respond to The Washington Post about the future of books and documentaries on its website.(Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
The 2014 book Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America and the 2018 documentary of the same name are still available on Amazon and are each listed as a “bestseller”. Neither currently has a harmful content disclaimer.
Two weeks ago, Irving tweeted about the film to his 4.6 million followers. He deleted the tweet but relentlessly posted an apology on Instagram Thursday after refusing to apologize for a week, the Nets handing him at least his five-game suspension, Nike ended his relationship with the NBA star. ADL declined to use his $500,000 donation to combat hate as he offered.
“The news made the book hot. All sellers, including Amazon, cashed in,” said Alvin H. Rosenfeld, director of the Center for Contemporary Anti-Semitism Studies and professor at Indiana University. I’m here. “It’s so ugly.”
Rosenfeld said banning books is not the solution.
He believes Amazon can continue to sell the book with a disclaimer that clearly explains the nature of the book. He added that Amazon should donate profits from books and documentaries to organizations that fight hate speech.
“It’s irresponsible to make money from such toxic books,” he said.
It’s not the only anti-Semitic book Amazon sells, said Matt Boxer, an assistant professor in the Hornstein Program Jewish Professional Leadership at Brandeis University.
This website still sells copies of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. “I’m not talking about the academic version, I’m talking about the original version,” Boxer said.
Rosenfeld is teaching Hitler’s book and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to his students this semester. He believes it is important to study and responsibly discuss selected chapters from these texts.
However, Rosenfeld pointed out that the book Irving promoted was “simply a reuse of old hateful ideas.” The book, he said, is full of anti-Semitic accusations that have been disproved time and time again.
The ADL has tallied 2,717 anti-Semitic cases across the United States in 2021, the letter said. This was his 34% increase from 2020. The FBI’s hate crimes report also confirms an increase in violence and prejudice against Jews, the letter said.
Last year, just days after the attacks on the US Capitol on January 6th, Amazon removed “The Turner Diaries” from its virtual shelves. This was his 1978 novel in which a group of white supremacists attack the Capitol to overthrow the US government.
Even before “The Turner Diaries” was taken down, Amazon was selling it with a racist disclaimer.
“It is important to defend the right of private companies to sell products they deem appropriate, but freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences,” Boxer said, adding that book sellers should not He added that the consequences of
“There is more anti-Semitism in public these days, because people with such beliefs are less afraid to share it,” he said.
Boxer believes that the review process for books and documentaries on Amazon is highly automated and does not recognize products containing hate speech. “Amazon doesn’t seem to have the knowledge or the engineers to understand if a book is toxic,” he said. “For them, every book is just a product meant to be sold.”
Amazon Studios encourages free speech on its website, outlining that “all titles undergo manual and automated review before a licensing decision is made.”
The guidelines state, “The film or script as a whole must not be full of bigotry or hate, and we do not allow films, scripts, reviews, or other content that is merely hate speech.
