David Aaronovitch

David Aaronovitch is a columnist for The Times.

Latest from David Aaronovitch

Jews for Jesus leaflets always put me in an extremely bad mood

The evangelical movement, which singles out Jews rather than Muslims or Hindus for conversion, is just plain rude – I can’t help but think about the Spanish Inquisition

3 min read

Vintage engraving of scene from the New Testament, Jesus speaking in the treasury. James Tissot

This isn’t the NUS I led. It must regain trust of Jews – or cease to exist

3 min read

Don’t give us your propaganda about genocide, Mr Putin

3 min read

Calling Emma Watson antisemitic makes it harder to fight bigotry

3 min read

What type of villain is a ‘Jewish villain’ and why? Discuss...

The row over the ‘Hershel Fink’ character in a new play at the Royal Court inevitably collides with the idea of ‘Jewface’ — when non-Jewish actors are criticised for portraying Jews

3 min read

November 18, 2021 15:44

What type of villain is a ‘Jewish villain’ and why? Discuss...

My family did not come from a quaint town in Lancashire

If Jewish surnames represented towns, imagining how the places once thrived before the Holocaust is a sobering reminder of how an entire way of life was wiped out forever

3 min read

September 30, 2021 15:08

In modern football, a Jew can’t be a true English gentleman

Coverage of the controversial Harry Kane transfer debacle has been underpinned by casual, antisemitic stereotypes that have been around since before the time of Shakespeare

3 min read

August 12, 2021 12:08

Tottenham Hotspur's English chairman Daniel Levy takes his place in the directors box before the start of the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield in Liverpool, northwest England on March 30, 2014. Liverpool won 4-0. AFP PHOTO / PAUL ELLIS RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or live services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Why just Gaza? What about the Uighurs and Syrian Muslims?

As the by-election in Batley and Spen shows this week, very few people are prepared to ask the difficult question: why do so many Muslims focus their anger on Palestine?

3 min read

June 24, 2021 11:34

Supporters of Palestine wave flags as they hold a rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC on May 29, 2021. - More than 1,000 rallied Saturday in Washington in support of Palestinians and calling for an end to US aid to Israel. The demonstration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial came as a ceasefire that ended 11 days of intense fighting between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip has so far held. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

I know what is really bad for the Jews, and it is not Joe Biden

The idea that Trump was good for ‘the Jews’ and Biden is a disaster reveals a mean-spirited vision of the Jewish community as being rich, selfish, tribal and lacking a conscience

3 min read

May 14, 2021 13:32

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MAY 23: (ISRAEL OUT) In this handout photo provided by the Israel Government Press Office (GPO), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with US President Donald Trump prior to the President's departure from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on May 23, 2017 in Jerusalem, Israel. Trump arrived for a 28-hour visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority areas on his first foreign trip since taking office in January. (Photo by Kobi Gideon/GPO via Getty Images)

Don’t you dare blow a hole in the scrolls – they cheered me up

The discovery of parts of the Book of Twelve Prophets brought some rare good news this year – so good I almost forgot how gullible we become when we want to believe in something, writes David Aaronovitch

3 min read

March 26, 2021 15:43