Sir: Rather than reveal anything newswor- thy or insightful, William
Cash's promise to investigate the success of Jews in Holly- wood' succeeds only in conjuring up time- tested anti-Semitic stereotypes, which we had hoped would be beneath The Spectator to have resurrected.
Cash rightfully accuses the likes of Lew Wasserman, Steven Spielberg and Michael Ovitz — who happen to be American Jews of one sin, success. But by labelling these individuals in a particular industry as an insidious 'cabal', Cash has actually plagia- rised a page from the playbook of Julius Streicher and Joseph Goebbels. In the 1920s and 30s, those masters of racist stereotyping identified Jewish involvement in financial markets as a justification for, and a means to fanning the flames of big- otry and genocide. What then can we expect next? An exposé of African Americans in the Nation- al Basketball Association? Or how about the truth behind British domination of the Shakespearean stage?
If and when your publication is interested in informing your readers about the present and future trends in the entertainment industry, by all means speak of the Spiel- bergs, Katzenbergs and Ovitzes, but don't forget the Oprahs, the Cosbys and some of the investors in Tokyo, who have a little bit to say about how their studios in Holly- wood are run.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, Rabbi Abraham Cooper
Simon Wiesenthal Centre, 9760 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA
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