By Bruce S. Ticker
San Diego Jewish World
“This is an affront to American democracy and does permanent, irrevocable harm to our justice system,” says America’s Mayor.
Rudy Giuliani was not referring to accusations that he conspired to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results. He was slamming the fact that a county prosecutor — a Black woman — would dare to indict him on these accusations.
Between Monday night’s indictment and a civil sex assault suit in New York, Rudy now stands accused of sexism, racism, homophobia and — you guessed it — antisemitism.
As we are learning now, the former mayor of New York City faces 13 criminal counts that include soliciting public officials to violate their oaths of office and making false statements, according to WABC Eyewitness News in NYC. Giuliani and ex-President Donald J. Trump are among 19 co-defendants whose indictments were announced late Monday night by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis; much of Atlanta is part of Fulton County.
Antisemitism? In her lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, plaintiff Noelle Dunphy claims that Giuliani panned the Jewish holiday of Passover and extolled the sexual prowess of Italian men as contrasted with the Jewish male’s sexual prowess, or lack thereof.
These allegations are contained in transcripts of certified recordings made by Dunphy in her suit, which was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. The recordings focus on charges of sexual assault and harassment, but Giuliani’s alleged anti-Jewish attitudes are included, according to The New York Daily News.
Giuliani joins actor Jamie Foxx to end up in a stew over their reported words about Jews. Foxx griped about the culprits who killed Jesus, but he disputed who he meant as the culprits.
We need to recognize that Dunphy could be making all this up. However, we are already aware that for him, lying is another bodily function, and he rivals Trump in making the dumbest and most disgusting remarks.
One of Giuliani’s attorneys, Adam S. Katz, might have given Giuliani away when Katz said the transcripts were taken out of context, if they were authentic to begin with, The New York Times reports.
Out of context? That suggests Giuliani really said what Dunphy claims, as in:
“Jews. They want to go through that freaking Passover all the time. Man, oh, man. Get over the Passover. It was like 3,000 years ago. OK, the Red Sea parted. Big deal. Not the first time that happened.”
Get over “the Passover?” This is one of our warmest holidays. It is treated like a celebration of freedom. If Passover annoys him so much, how do Jews feel when Christmas gets in our face from mid-November to Dec. 25?
The transcripts show that Giuliani, who is Italian, also ranted that Italian men perform far better in bed than Jewish guys. At his age, 79, Giuliani must think he is a sexual dynamo. Being Italian hardly makes him a stallion.
If he really made these comments, why would he pick on the Jewish people? Drunk? Senile? April Fool’s Day? Dunphy said he made the Passover remarks on April 1, 2019. The question remains: Why must he drag us into his biases?
Dunphy also charged that Giuliani called actor Matt Damon a f*g. The Atlanta indictments alleged that Giuliani falsely accused two Black election workers of fraud.
Jamie Foxx uttered words that Jews could only interpret one way. For that matter, what interpretation do they need?
“They killed this dude named Jesus…what do you think they’ll do to you?” Foxx wrote in an Instagram post.
Most of us can figure out that “they” are the Jews since we have been accused of killing Jesus for the last 2,000 years. Foxx swiftly apologized and some of his fans came up with an excuse that – who knows? – might be acceptable.
“Hey guys, I want to apologize to the Jewish community and anyone else who was offended by my post,” Foxx wrote on Instagram. “I know my words were clumsy and have caused offense. That was never my intent. To clarify, I felt betrayed by a fake friend, and that’s what I meant about ‘they,’ nothing more.”
Several Twitter users wrote that Foxx’s phrase is understood among many African Americans to refer to betrayal among friends, not the common charge that Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus, according to the Jewish Telegraph Agency.
Let us hope so.
Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist. This column is republished from San Diego Jewish World. Bruce Ticker may be contacted via [email protected]