Actually, the anti-Semitism you are seeing in the production was actually there in the original version Dickens penned. Dickens made it quite clear that Fagin was Jewish, describing him as speaking with a nasal intonation, and calling him "the Jew". Dickens was comfortably anti-Semitic until he became friends with the wife of a Jewish man who purchased a London home from him. When the woman objected to his portrayal of Jewish people, he excised many negative comments in Oliver Twist. He also later created the character Riah in Our Mutual Friend, who is a very altruistic Jewish man. You can read more about this controversy by searching for Fagin at Wikipedia.

While it's sad that Dickens (an author whom I truly enjoy) ever felt it was acceptable to portray Jews so negatively, I think it's evidence of great character that he later admitted and tried to rectify his bigotry. And the BBC certainly didn't have to base their adaptation on the earlier versions of Dicken's work, rather than the later excised version he preferred.

Robert

I went to a play in Dublin over the weekend called "The death of Harry Leon" written by Conal Quinn. It was set in Dublin's Jewish community during the second world war. It is a fictional play that attempts to forcast what would have happened to Ireland's Jews had Ireland entered the war on the side of the Germans. It offered a fascinating insight into the roots of European anti Semitism. You should look into it.

Robert...as I have said before...don't underestimate the average Brit,we are not all paid up members of the london based appeasement/self hating elite.I could equally imagine an England with a smaller and quieter muslim population in 25 years as the British when aroused are a fierce race and many will happily defend the land we love from our imported enemies regardless of our governments efforts to suppress resistance.

I'm sure the producers of this program cared little for whatever the "original" Dickens' manuscript called for. Ask them if they're willing to do a version of Huck Finn with all the N-words in it.

PBS knows that it's viewers, especially the Jewish ones, won't care a bit about such a portrayal.

Hi Robert. I'd be curious if you provided a script and email address (or phone number) for your readers to email/call pbs to protest, just how much of a ruckus you could cause. Might be worth a try.

Thud - Your post was interesting. I really love history and am intrigued by how so many things of consequence can hinge on a seemingly trivial act - for example - research how the Battle of Britain shifted from an attack on RAF airfields to British cities (thereby shifting the balance to Britain despite numerically inferior aircraft)

Anyway what prompted me to respond is that people tend to project the future based on the present - and there can be so many unforeseen variables in the interim. We can hope...

...And speaking of the subject at hand (veering back to topic) from the left's point of view "political correctness" allows the bashing of Judeo-Christian heritage but everything else in the world is verboten

pc isn't very Jew tolerant...
Has anyone done a sympathetic Shylock?
Has there been any press about the Israeli tennis star banned from Dubai, or one of those other oil rich Arab places?

Sarah:

True, early editions of Twist contained anti-Semitic material. But Dickens realized how hateful it was and deleted those passages. He was correcting a terrible wrong. This production enshrines what Dickens grew to denounce.

Ted:

Thanks for the tip.

Thud:

I hope you're right. Tragically, all news out of Britain points to radical Islam ascendant. To expect some miraculous twelfth hour counterattack looks increasingly unlikely.

Jake:

Of course you're right. Their, ahem, literary sources are merely a justification for some good ol' fashioned Jew hatred. This is so transparent it's almost laughable.

Mata Hari:

Here's the PBS home page: http://www.pbs.org/aboutsite/aboutsite_feedback.html

They suggest you contact your local PBS station.

I don't believe PBS cares. They are govt. funded, hence above their less sophisticated viewers, and certainly not answerable to market forces, only to govt. paper shufflers.

Besides, Jew-hatred disguised as "mere anti-Zionism{ is all the rage among the sophisticates in the leftist art world.

Bill:

The left proudly maintains a double standard when it comes to cultural or religious sensibilities. The justification always relies on:

1. Denial, it does not exist.

2. If it does exists it's at the service of a greater truth, correcting old wrongs.

For instance: President Obama's Jew-hating Church and his, ahem "spiritual guide" J. Wright would have destroyed any white politician—as it should. But Obama got a pass because he's black.

Reverse racism and affirmative action on a grand scale.

Batya:

As we've written frequently here at Seraphic Secret, anti-Zionism is a fig-leaf for Jew hatred. The Europeans gave it a short rest after WWII, out of sheer embarrassment, but now they have discovered a fabulously fashionable way to raise the banner of Jew-hatred once again.

You see in the old days Jews in Europe were despised for lack of a homeland.

Now that the Jewish people have reclaimed their ancient homeland they are despised with even greater venom.

Vulgar, but it gets the job done.

Much to the joy of cruel, totalitarian Arab Muslim regimes who make no secret of their desire to commit genocide against the Jewish people.

Robert:

Your tax dollars at work.

Better to try to effect change and fail than to never try at all.

What do you bet the adaption DOESN'T include the scene where the two rabbis, who are a lot more sympathetic than a lot of Dickens' Christian clergymen, come to Fagin in the condemned cell and he sends them away? Off-Topic: I hope that, if anyone on thise website lives on the West coast, you're not snowbound or without power because of the storm. Robert, are you and Karen alright?

Dear Batya: As early as the 1930s, the late Sam Jaffee did a sympathetic portrayal of Shylock.

Dear Batya: As early as the 1930s, the late Sam Jaffee did a sympathetic portrayal of Shylock. Speaking of Shylock, if you REALLY want to see a vicious, biased, unfair portrait by Shakespeare, take a look at how he handled Joan of Arc!

I may have pointed this out on a previous blog. If so, I'm sorry. Has anyone besides me ever noticed that the image of the Jew in Nazi propaganda is strikingly similar to the image of the Judge in 19th century English fiction, hooked nose and all? See J. Sheridan Le Fanu's "Mr. Justice Harbottle" and Bram Stoker's "The Judge's House."

Johnny -- those are MY tax dollars at work too -- and I object!!

Check out the video at http://www.americanapologist.com/?p=205 which comes from AussieDave. Please help spread this video -- shine the light of truth on this disease called hatred!

PJ

Don't worry Robert - Hashem has his plans. All of the anti-Semites will get theirs very soon. As westbankpapa says, "You don't want Yitzchak, then you'll get Yishmael."

Speaking of Fagin and England... the musical Oliver! is playing now on the West End, starring Rowan Atkinson as Fagin:
http://www.forward.com/articles/15060/

I'm flabbergasted that PBS can engaged in such flagrant anti-Semitism. Of course, I haven't watched anything on PBS in, oh, at least fifteen years, so I'm behind the times on what is fashionable with the self-styled cultural elite. I guess one of the benefits of being subsidized is you don't have to care whether you can attract viewers.

Robert, keep in mind that you and your people have many friends like myself in the non-Jewish world. For whatever comfort it is.

Rober...England being so small geographicaly is covered by a small amount of major printed press outlets and an even smaller number of TV news organisations. I hate sounding like a conspiracy nut but all are run by the same type of people. They bought into the hate the west...hate the empire nonsense so long ago they know nothing else. If you read the British press it is amazing just how much contempt they show for the average British person.i come into contact with many people in my social and my work life and I can only report just how desperately angry they are at the subserviance of the govt to muslim pressure groups etc. I truly believe the govt of britain is struggling greatly to keep a lid on things at the present but the new economic pressures are making the likelihood of civil strife ever more likely.Cliches aside,we are a polite nation...but when shoved we are capable of whatever violence is needed to make our nation safe....I myself have no intention of submitting to Islam...whatever it takes.

In spite of what one may feel about other programs, I love the Nova Science programs on PBS, sometimes surpassing the quality of those on Discovery. I personally don't mind supporting PBS for the science coverage; others of course may not benefit and may not feel like supporting.

Gosh, you mean they braodcast it in the US of A?

And to think that they also broadcast it in Israel some four months ago. Which illustrates how really dumb, or kowtowing, Israelis can be.

Have you read Melvyn Konner's 'The Jewish Body'?
He discusses Fagin, and others (most noticeably
Shakespeare's 'Merchant of Venice'), but omits Joyce's Leopold Bloom - that pig kidney eating Yid
who wipes his keester with newspaper. Face it, we're not liked, and it ain't our fault.

Schvach:

Have not read it. Thanks so much for the tip.

Yisael Medad:

The Israeli media is, for the most part, a bunch of leftist lemmings. Baruch HaShem we now have the Jblogosphere to correct the insanity.

Kent:

Thanks so much for reminding us that we do have many friends like you in the non-Jewish world. Sometimes the chorus of hatred just drowns out all other voices.

Miranda:

We're fine, thanks so much. I'll be taping part II, and live-blogging The Oscars.

Where Kate Winslet will win Best Actress for her sympathetic portrayal of a Jew-killing Nazi pedophile.

Poor girl couldn't read the sign that said: “Don't Burn The Jews.”

Wow, and I thought your blog was just full of beautiful old movie star photos (stunning by the way) but felt like I had to defend my fellow non-Jewish Brits after reading your post... we are not in any way cow-towing to Islam in this country it's just that the British way is to grumble about a problem for years before errupting into some mild form of civil disobedience, then home for tea. You have to remember that this is a small overpopulated island and the majority of Muslims that live here have intergrated pretty well, it's just a vocal hardcore who play up to the media and get all the attention. We have a large Jewish population that we regard by and large as "us" but the muslims are now regarded as "them" thanks to this situation.

On the subject of Us and Them, I am Welsh, along with the Scots and Irish, we have a long history of being persecuted and ousted in our own land from the Romans onward, so it's would be difficult to know where to draw the line if we deported all unwelcome "incomers". I think it would be nice if we could eject both the Muslim extremists and the majority of news reporters with them... and our current crop of MPs too, but we have to find compromise. Then we can go back to fighting amongst ourselves.