Google has removed an employee from its diversity team over a "hurtful" blogpost from 2007 suggesting Jewish people have an “insatiable appetite for war and killing”.
 
Kamau Bobb, who joined the company in 2018, made the comments in a since-deleted blogpost over 13 years ago unearthed by the Conservative news site Washington Free Beacon this week.
 
The article, headlined “If I were a Jew”, appeared to suggest Jewish people should feel responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. 
 
The piece was published in November 2007 shortly after the 69th anniversary of Kristallnacht and contains several references to the Nazi pogrom.
 
“If I were a Jew I would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing in defense of myself.  Self defense is undoubtedly an instinct, but I would be afraid of my increasing insensitivity to the suffering others,” the piece said. 
 
“My greatest torment would be that I’ve misinterpreted the identity offered  by my history and transposed spiritual and human compassion with self righteous impunity,” it read. 
 
Elsewhere in the piece, Mr Bobb wrote, “My reflections on Kristallnacht would lead me to feel that these are precisely the human sentiments that I as Jew would understand; that I ought to understand and feel compelled to help alleviate.”
 
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre joined the US anti-racism group StopAntisemitism.org and others in calling for his firing over the article. 
 
Michael Dickson, executive director of pro-Israel group Stand With Us, asked Google in a tweet whether it had carried out due diligence checks when recruiting for the role.
 
In an internal response to the furore, Mr Bobb wrote: “My blog is a place for my personal reflection on a number of complex issues spanning years. Reading it again and seeing the pain it’s caused, I would like to respond directly and honestly.
 
“Let me first apologise. What I wrote crudely characterised the entire Jewish community. What was intended as a critique of particular military action fed into antisemitic 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.
 
He added that he was “deeply sorry” for what he wrote.
 
Google said: “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 and our LGBTQ+ community. These writings are unquestionably hurtful. The author acknowledges this and has apologized. He will no longer be part of our diversity team going forward and will focus on his STEM work.

“This has come at a time where we’ve seen an alarming increase in antisemitic attacks. Antisemitism is a vile prejudice that has given rise to unfathomable acts. It has no place in society and we stand with our Jewish community in condemning it.”