DID DERRIDA LIVE IN VAIN?

Amiel's animus (Richard Ingrams, The Observer, 7/13/03).

I have developed a habit when confronted by letters to the editor in support of the Israeli government to look at the signature to see if the writer has a Jewish name. If so, I tend not to read it. . . .

The other day, for example, the Canadian journalist Barbara Amiel wrote a long denunciation of the BBC in the Daily Telegraph, accusing the Corporation of being anti-Israel in its Middle East coverage.

Many readers of the Daily Telegraph may have been impressed by her arguments, assuming her to be just another journalist or even, as she was recently described in another newspaper, an 'international-affairs commentator'.

They might have been less impressed if the paper had told them that Barbara Amiel is not only Jewish but that her husband's company, in which she has an interest, owns not only the Daily Telegraph but the Jerusalem Post .

In other words, when it comes to accusing people of bias on the Middle East, she is not ideally qualified for the role.

This is astonishingly stupid. Mr. Ingrams is not only assuming that all Jews have a bias towards Israel -- which is demonstrably false -- but he apparently also believes in magic. That is one of only two explanations for his fear of reading powerful words from those he considers impure.

Ms. Amiels arguments are set forth in black and white in her columns. Like all writers, her facts should be approached skeptically and tested before acceptance. Her logic should likewise be tested for rigor. But if her facts and logic are accepted, what possible difference can her "bias" make?

The other possible explanation for Mr. Ingrams' position is, of course, that he is a close-minded bigot. I will have to abjure his writings. Posted by David Cohen at July 16, 2003 1:04 PM