It's hardly a stereotype to say that there are common features associated with the Jewish race, as there are with Chinese, Norwegians, etc.

I do dislike haters, yes...because as far as I'm concerned they are the source of most of the ills in the world. Ultimately, I wish they would change, and realize that we are all human beings... but until they do, I feel compelled to challenge them rather than just ignore them.

Comical, maybe. Here's a guy whose mom was a Jewish Communist. When he had a falling out with her, he became strongly anti-Jewish and anti-Communist. It's very Freudian somehow.

But it's hardly harmless. Fischer is a role model (more than a role model, practically a religious figure with hordes of fanboy supporters who accept every word he ever said). If he says anti-Semitism is okay, that's clearly not a good thing. I do feel somewhat sorry for Fischer, but I feel sorrier for anyone who suffers because of him. At least Spassky has the good graces to (mostly) keep it to himself.

I don't think anybody really suffered from Fischer's comments. If anything those comments (coming from him) should only prove to any thinking person just how irrational those thoughts are.

The letter signed by Spassky, and other leading cultural figures in Russia, I think is far more dangerous because people think that they ARE sane, they ARE educated, therefore they must be right. And that letter apparently is being taken very seriously by many politicians in Russia (many of whom agree with it).

Spassky was much more of a role model to me, as a person (before I learned about this letter). He was handsome, educated, and seemingly a gentleman in every sense of the word.

I love Fischer for his chess genius, and what he accomplished, and for the obvious pain he lived his life with. But ultimately the only person he hurt with his comments was himself.

The "Who cares?" crowd is the kind that really upset my friend (who is not Jewish technically, since her father was Jewish but her mother wasn't).

I'm not Jewish at all (that I know of) but I can see her point. Anti-Semitism does seem to be more fashionable and acceptable than other kinds of prejudices.

Take anti-Africanism, for instance. These days we have to go <looking> for people who are bigoted against blacks, because almost nobody does it openly any more. Those few who do are generally regarded as inbred hicks with the IQ of a glass of water.

If Fischer had been out there saying that all blacks were dumb and needed to be shipped back to Africa, it's hard to believe that people would be so lackadaisical about it. More likely his fans would be profoundly embarrassed by it, and be constantly trying to distance themselves from it. But if all he wants is to have all the Jews rounded up and executed, it's more like "Eh. No big deal. But hey, you can't deny he's a great chessplayer." Most still seem to regard him as someone to be admired without qualification, rather than pitied.

I'm not sure why the difference in attitudes. You could spin it one way and say that people are more accepting of racism against Jews. Or you could spin it the other way and say that people are more patronizing towards Blacks, and see them as less capable of taking care of themselves than Jews are.

Perhaps...but don't forget, many of Fischer's defenders (to this day) are Jewish.

I just looked and, oh, man. I am speechless. Except to say that <90% nutcases> looks way low.

<If Fischer had been out there saying that all blacks were dumb and needed to be shipped back to Africa, it's hard to believe that people would be so lackadaisical about it.>

Still, if you can't objectively discern differences between 1) Criticism (not automatically racist/facist by default or to be assumed otherwise), 2) Opinion (not automatically racist/facist by default or to be assumed otherwise), 3) Questioning of motive (not automatically racist/facist by default or to be assumed otherwise), in individual instances without generalising then keep hiding behind that pointed-finger, throw all objectivity out of the window and let the pre-conditioned racists, fascists go on with their work while 'we' all carry on bickering about semantical indifferences for the next 2 millenia. 'They' won't even notice anyway and any that do would probably just join in and laugh but for a different reason.

Jewishness genetically ranges widely, from East to West, Northern Africa to Northern Europe.

Beyond this Jewishness is not a "race." It's a way of life that even gentiles can become a part of, as stated in the Story of Ruth. The fact that Jewishness needs to run only through the mother further muddles the pot.

Oh sorry, I didn't realize I was talking to a Nobel Prize winner.>

I don't agree with that, although it is true that because of the diaspora and intermarriage, you will find Jews with blond hair and blue eyes, and some who look African (as in the case of the Ethiopian Jews, or 'felashas').

An interesting study was done recently with a tribe in southern Africa known as the 'Lemba'...they had always claimed through their oral traditions that they were descendants of Jews, though nobody believed them...until modern DNA tests proved it was true...their priests had similar DNA to the Cohens and Levites (the original priest classes of the Jews) since, like them, they did not marry outside their class.

Very interesting study.