Ronald Dahl’s family and historical society apologize for writer’s past anti-Semitic comments

by



[ad_1]

The famous writer who wrote classics like “James and the Giant Peach”, “Matilda” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” died in 1990 at the age of 76, but his family now wants to apologize on his behalf .

“The Dahl family and the Roald Dahl Story Company deeply apologize for the lasting and understandable injury caused by certain statements by Roald Dahl,” they said in a statement on Dahl’s website.

“These prejudiced remarks are incomprehensible to us and are in stark contrast to the man we have known and to the values ​​at the heart of Roald Dahl’s stories, which have had a positive impact on young people for generations. We hope that just as he did it at its best., at its worst, Roald Dahl can help us remember the lasting impact of words.

Most of his comments were recorded by interviews including one in 1983, a year after Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, when he told the New Statesman:

“There is a trait in the Jewish character that causes animosity, maybe it’s some kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there is always a reason why the anti- everything pops up anywhere; even a stinky like Hitler didn’t. just pick them for no reason. “

He used the same situation for other anti-Semitic comments made in 1990 to The Independent.

His opinions have come back to haunt his legacy several times over the years, especially in the UK.

In 2018, The Guardian revealed that the Royal Mint had rejected the creation of a commemorative coin for Dahl based on these comments.
A year earlier, Jewish comedian David Baddiel refused to celebrate Roald Dahl Day for the same views, tweet a picture from part of Dahl’s comments to the New Statesman with the caption: “Even though I’m a huge fan of his work, I won’t be celebrating #RoaldDahlDay.”



[ad_2]

Source link