Google Boots Head Of Diversity Who Said Jews Have ‘Insatiable Appetite For War And Killing”

Google on Wednesday revealed that it has ‘reassigned’ Kamu Bobb, global lead for diversity strategy and research, after a now-deleted 2007 blog post surfaced written following an outbreak of violence between Lebanon and Israel that year.

Titled “If I Were a Jew,” Bobb wrote: “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 [of] others,” he added.

“If I were a Jew today, my sensibilities would be tormented. I would find it increasingly difficult to reconcile the long cycles of oppression that Jewish people have endured and the insatiable appetite for vengeful violence that Israel, my homeland, has now acquired.“

“I don’t know how I would reconcile that identity with the behavior of fundamentalist Jewish extremists or of Israel as a nation,” he continued. “The details would confuse me. I wouldn’t understand those who suggest that bombing Lebanon, slaughtering Lebanese people and largely destroying Beirut in retaliation for the capture of a few soldiers is justified.”

According to the Epoch Times, Bobb sent an apology letter to his Google colleagues, writing in part: “What was intended as a critique of particular military action fed into anti-Semitic 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.”

After the posts surfaced, Jewish groups called for his head.

“Google must fire this anti-Semite,” said the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group, in a tweet.

More via Epoch Times’ Zachary Stieber:

The Coalition of Jewish Values wrote to Google CEO Sundar Pichai to urge him to immediately replace Bobb, indicating an apology was not sufficient.

Yaakov Menken, managing director of the coalition, told The Epoch Times that people can change their views and perhaps the uproar over the old remarks could lead to a change in Bobb.

More here: https://t.co/B60y0Pa3TP

— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) June 2, 2021

“We definitely believe people can change their views, and maybe this is waking him up to the fact that he imbibed anti-Semitic poison and that can be cured. But having him in a research position places him where he can do very little harm; being diversity lead was in a position where he could do tremendous damage to the very fabric, the very ideal of diversity,” he said.

Google’s spokesperson told The Epoch Times that company officials “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.”

“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,” the spokesperson said.

“This has come at a time where we’ve seen an alarming increase in anti-Semitic attacks. Anti-Semitism 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.”