Post

Is Paul Bremer Jewish? (Ronald Hilton, USA, 06/18/04 9:18 am)

Hank Greely writes: "None of the links Ronald has provided say anything about Bremer being Jewish. I just did a quick Google of my own and can find no evidence that Paul Bremer is Jewish. I found no direct evidence at all of his religion or his ethnic background. I strongly suspect Bremer is a German surname, meaning from Bremen. There is a Bremen County, Iowa, and there appears to be a lot of Middlewestern genealogical interest in Bremen families - some evidence of non-Jewish German origin, though admittedly not strong evidence. It is also perhaps significant that Bremer graduated from Phillips Academy in 1958 and Yale in 1962. I suspect there were some, but very few, Jews at Phillips at that time and more, but still not many, at Yale.

The more powerful evidence that Bremer isn't Jewish is negative evidence. Given the interest various parties on the internet (and elsewhere) would have in identifying Bremer as Jewish and given the negative political consequences, foreseeable (one trusts) even to this Administration, of putting a Jew in that position in Iraq, if Bremer were Jewish, i don't think we'd have the slightest trouble establishing that in seconds on the internet. Instead, I find exactly zero evidence for it.

So where did the idea that he is Jewish get started on WAIS? And why? "

RH:I saw a report saying Bremer was Jewish, so I sampled a few of the Google 3910 entries in English alone. and some said he was. I am quite prepared to believe that this was disinformation put out by Arab sources. However, family names based on the names of cities are often Jewish; in Spanish, for example, Toledano. In German, Frankfurter. Bremer's family may have been originally Jewish. We go back to the Nazi charge that the Roosevelt family was originally Jewish. As always, I have an open mind.

Christopher Jones writes: "Family names based on cities sounds suspiciously Jewish or at least converted. In fact there are thousands of examples of this starting with Irving Berlin. Roosevelt, which in German would translate as Rosenfeld, is a very Jewish sounding name. Although Franklin Roosevelt certainly did not look very Jewish, his slavishly pro-Jewish policies and blind trust in the Soviet criminals in and around and including Stalin would tend to confirm his Jewishness".

Hank Levin writes: "Christopher's response is unworthy of general dissemination unless you intended to show his stereotypical view of Jews. "Jewish-sounding names", "looking very Jewish" and "having blind trust in Soviet Criminals confirming Jewishness." Come on. Converting Roosevelt to Rosenfeld is a creative act just as converting Jones to Cojones would be a creative transformation of a name to change meaning. The question of looking Jewish is also interesting. I am over six feet with green eyes and a straight nose and was a nationally-ranked athlete in my time. None of these comport with the Nazi stereotype of Jews being short, fat, with hooked nose and big teeth. My children all have light hair. My father was almost as reactionary, politically, as Christopher and saw communists in all of the shadows. He was a third generation American whose grandfather fought in the Civil War. I mention all of this because I do not recognize the stereotypes that Christopher talks about. We should be careful about spreading these characterizations through WAIS and stay with a higher level of discourse". RH: WAIS does not practice censorship. As the French say, we listen to all the bells. There are WAISers who hate Bush, there are WAISers who hate Kerry. I delete only the personal insults. Christopher Jones and John Heelan, both highly educated people although at opposite ends oof the political spectrum, represent viewpoints which are widespread in Europe and elsewhere, and we should listen to them, just as we should listen to an Israeli and a Palestinian. WAIS is proud to have a nationally ranked athlete among its members. As such, Hank would be well qualified to run for political office. In England, candidates stand, which requires no athletic prowess.

Visits: 63