WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings took to the Senate floor Thursday to defend himself against charges he had written an anti-Semitic newspaper column.
“I won’t apologize for this column; I want them to apologize to me,” the Charleston Democrat said of his critics. “Talking about ‘anti-Semitic.’ They’re not getting by with it.”
Hollings, who retires in January after 38 years in the Senate, went on to blame President Bush for the war in Iraq. He said U.S. policy in the Middle East had unfortunately put Israel in “terrible jeopardy.”
The Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish civil rights group, had taken Hollings to task for writing that Israel and President Bush’s desire to court Jewish voters were the reasons for the war in Iraq.
A Columbia rabbi, Philip Silverstein, said he was “horrified” by Hollings’ remarks.
ADL president Abraham Foxman said Hollings’ writings were reminiscent of age-old conspiracy theories against Jews that had resulted in their persecution.
Hollings’ column appeared earlier this month in The State and two other S.C. newspapers.
