Like pastrami? Yep, you're a Jew

As befits a journalist, author and blogger of international renown, Radio New Zealand provides almost 45 minutes for Antony Loewenstein to spout his anti-Israel views to the huge early Saturday morning audience. As always when speaking in public he comes across as all moderate and sensible, with nary a pro-Taliban or Iraqi insurgent sentiment to be heard, instead jabbering near-gibberish at length, indeed, indeed.

But Loewenstein is keen to change the subject when interviewer Kim Hill questions – 13 minutes in – how it is that an atheist who finds Judaism repugnant is a Jew. Loewenstein unconvincingly claims to be Jewish because he admires aspects of Jewish culture, citing "some" Jewish foods as an example. Cool, my fondness for bagels makes me a Jew; now I can expect to be contacted by Melbourne University Publishing's Louise Adler asking me to write a book or two on subjects I know nothing about.

By the way, my apologies for the gap between Loewenstein posts – for some readers there is no such thing as too much Loewenstein.

Update: Click the link for an example of Loewenstein showing how a professional journalist and author blogs: copy and paste a 1,376 word speech to which he adds a 45 word introduction.