Fiddler on the Roof

Here’s a philosophical question — can a non-Jewish person accuse a Jewish person of anti-Semitism in response to that same Jewish person accusing the non-Jewish person of anti-Semitism?

Craig Kelly — who has previously compared Dan Andrews’ Victorian government to Nazi Germany — claimed last week that his COVID conspiracy rabbit hole began with a YouTube doctor who had a “long Jewish beard”. A description Labor MP Josh Burns decried as a colloquial stereotype during a speech on Monday.

Kelly didn’t take the feedback well. “That was an absolute abuse of parliamentary privilege,” he said. “I’m not sure who that Labor member’s name was, but that was an absolute bloody disgrace. And I am absolutely livid about that … I said the Dr (Vladimir) Zelenko, he’s a Jewish doctor out of New York, he has a long Jewish beard and I’ve asked my Jewish friends and they said there’s nothing anti-Semitic about saying someone has a long Jewish beard.”

Burns said it’s a just another example in a long line of inappropriate behaviour that he has been warning Scott Morrison about. “Many Jewish people don’t have beards, including myself,” Burns said. “Just in the same way that Mr Kelly shouldn’t be giving medical advice, because he’s not a doctor and has no medical qualifications whatsoever, you shouldn’t be making comparisons or judgments or comments based on what he believes is anti-Semitism or not.” Ouch.