Diana's Lawyer Backs Sir Martin Over Chilcot Claims
Sir Martin Gilbert (left) and Sir John Chilcot
Claims that Sir Martin Gilbert should be barred from the Iraq war inquiry panel on account of his religion have been criticised by one of the country's top lawyers.
Anthony Julius, who represented Princess Diana in her divorce from Prince Charles, this week backed Sir Martin's condemnation of articles in the Independent and Independent on Sunday which suggested the renowned historian's Jewish faith may influence his judgment during the Chilcot Inquiry.
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In a radio interview last week Sir Martin called the articles "appalling". He said: "What were the religions or characteristics or ethnic backgrounds of the other three members? They were of no interest to these people."
Sir Oliver Miles, who had suggested that Jews should not be on the inquiry, but insisted he was not anti-Semitic, appeared on BBC Newsnight last week to defend his views.
Julius added that anti-Semitism today has an "anti-Zionist" flavour. He said: "I think the anti-Zionism anti-Semitism are difficult issues. It is demoralising for Jews in this country. I don't think it's getting any better and needs to be taken seriously." He added that it was anti-Semitic for people to think that
"Jews should not have the right to national self determination".
Julius's book Trials of the Diaspora, published next month, looks at the history of British anti-Semitism and documents Princess Diana's interest in Judaism.
In extracts from the book, published in the Sunday Times, Julius wrote: "She (Diana) was interested in Jews but had no idea about them, save that Jewish men (she had heard) were more likely than the men of her own class and background to treat women decently. She was happy to take Jews to be hostile to everything to which she herself was hostile. She once said to me that she should never have married into a German family."
Julius also noted that he encountered anti-Semitism while representing Diana.
Referring to the way that the media highlighted his Judaism, he wrote: "I was exposed to a subtle form of anti-Semitism that I had neither expected nor experienced at any previous time in my life."
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