Google has removed Kamau Bobb from his “head of diversity” position after discovering a blog post from 2007 in which Bobb wrote that Jewish people have “an insatiable appetite for war and killing.” He is still employed by the company and will “focus on his Stem work.”
BBC News reports that Google has removed its head of diversity, Kamau Bobb, over a 2007 blog post that said that Jewish people had an “insatiable appetite for war and killing.”
Breitbart News previously reported on this, writing:
The post, titled “If I were a Jew,” slams Israel for an alleged “insatiable appetite for vengeful violence” and goes on to say “if I were a Jew I would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing in defense of myself.” The post was first reported on by the Washington Free Beacon.
Noting the various atrocities that have been committed against Jews throughout history, Bobb speculates that, if he were a Jew, the behavior of Israel towards the Lebanese and Palestinians would be irreconcilable with that aspect of Jewish identity.
“I don’t know how I would reconcile that identity with the behavior of fundamentalist Jewish extremists or of Israel as a nation. The details would confuse me. I wouldn’t understand those who suggest that bombing Lebanon, slaughtering Lebanese people and largely destroying Beirut in retaliation for the capture of a few soldiers is justified. I wouldn’t understand the notion of collective punishment, cutting off gas, electricity and water from residents in Gaza because they are attacking Israel who is fighting against them. It would be unconscionable to me to watch Israeli tanks donning the Star of David rumbling through Ramallah destroying buildings and breaking the glass.”
The Google diversity chief goes on to say that if he were a Jew, his “reflections on Kristallnacht” (the infamous pogrom in Nazi Germany) would lead him to empathize with the “animus, vengeance, and violence” now carried by Palestinians and Muslims.
On Thursday, a Google spokesperson told the BBC that Bobb would “no longer be part of our diversity team going forward.” The spokesperson added: “We unequivocally condemn the past writings by a member of our diversity team that are causing deep offense and pain to members of our Jewish community. These writings are unquestionably hurtful. The author acknowledges this and has apologized. He will no longer be part of our diversity team… and will focus on his Stem work.”
The spokesperson went on to say: “This has come at a time where we’ve seen an alarming increase in anti-Semitic attacks. Anti-Semitism… has no place in society and we stand with our Jewish community in condemning it.”
Michael Dickson, the head of the pro-Israel organization Stand With Us, tweeted that the blog post from Bobb made “revolting, and anti-Semitic, comparisons between Nazi actions and that of the world’s only Jewish country.”
Bobb reportedly emailed the Jewish staff group at Google to apologize, stating: “What I wrote crudely characterized the entire Jewish community. What was intended as a critique of particular military action fed into anti-Semitic tropes and prejudice… I think we can all agree, there is no easy solution to this situation. But that’s beside the point, the way I expressed my views on that conflict were hurtful.”
Read more at BBC News here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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