Stephen Fry: I’m embracing my Jewish identity

Stephen Fry will highlight his Jewish identity in this year’s Channel 4 Alternative Christmas Message and say that anti-Semitism has become “the one acceptable form of racism”.

The actor and writer will say there was “no excuse for the behaviour of some of our citizens” as he speaks about the rise in anti-Semitic attacks.

“I don’t think of myself as especially Jewish. Indeed, sometimes people rather embarrassingly refer to me as ‘quintessentially English’, whatever that means. Maybe it’s because I love cricket and Shakespeare and The Archers on Radio 4 and my vocal cords appear to be made of tweed,” he will tell viewers.

But his mother’s family is Jewish, and Fry will say: “I accept and claim the identity with pride. I am Stephen Fry, and I am a Jew.”

Growing up, he feared that he would not be accepted by society because he was gay. “One truth about myself, however, that I never thought for one single second would ever be an issue about which I had any cause to worry in this country, was that I’m a Jew.”

‘Ancient hatred’

Fry, 66, will say that the “horrendous events of Oct 7 and the Israeli response seem to have stirred up this ancient hatred”.

He will say that “it may surprise some people” to learn that he is Jewish. However, he explored his Jewish roots in the BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are? and wrote about it in his autobiography, Moab Is My Washpot.

His maternal grandparents, Martin and Rosa Neumann, emigrated from what is now Slovakia to the UK in 1927.

Fry was not brought up in the Jewish faith and told one interviewer that he became “enraptured” by the Anglican faith as a boy.

Fry will speak of ‘the greatest rise in anti-Jewish racism since records began’, in the wake of aggressive anti-Jewish protests since the Oct 7 Hamas attacks

He has spoken previously about his atheism, saying: “I’ve always believed that everything that is said from authority is either the authority of one’s own heart, one’s own brain, one’s own reading, one’s own trust, but not the authority of someone who claims it because they’re speaking for God and they know the truth because it’s written in a book. That, essentially, is where I come from.

“In a sense, tolerance is my religion. Reason is my religion.”

He will add: “My Jewish grandparents loved Britain, believing that Jews were more welcome here than in most countries. I am glad they aren’t alive now to read newspaper stories that would have reminded them of the 1930s Europe that they left.

“They believed Britishness meant being fair and decent, but what can be more unfair or indecent than race hatred, whether anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, or any kind?”

He will say of the Hamas-Israel conflict: “It’s agonising to see all the violence and destruction that’s unfolding, and the terrible loss of life on both sides brings me an overwhelming sadness and heartache.

“But whatever our opinions on what is happening, there can be no excuse for the behaviour of some of our citizens.”

The actor says Jewish people are becoming fearful of showing themselves in Britain

Fry will speak of “the greatest rise in anti-Jewish racism since records began” and cite Metropolitan Police figures recording a 1,350 per cent rise in reported incidents of anti-Semitism in London since Oct 7, including shop windows smashed and Stars of David and swastikas daubed on Jewish buildings and cemeteries.

“There is real fear stalking the Jewish neighbourhoods of Britain. Jewish people here are becoming fearful of showing themselves, in Britain, in 2023. Can you imagine, Jews afraid to be themselves in the open for fear of reprisal?”

Fry will end his speech by calling on viewers to “speak up, stand with us” and “be proud to have us as much a part of this great nation as any other minority”.

“Knowing and loving this country as I do, I don’t believe that most Britons are OK living in a society that judges hatred of Jews to be the one acceptable form of racism.”

‘Brave intervention’

Ian Katz, Channel 4’s chief content officer, said: “It’s inevitable that the horrific events in Israel and Gaza have caused strong feelings across the world, but the sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents in this country has been profoundly shocking and left many British Jews feeling fearful and isolated.

“I hope Stephen’s brave and personal intervention will draw attention to a form of racism that does not always attract the same concern and condemnation as other forms of hate and remind us that we all have a role to play in defending British values of respect and tolerance.”

First aired in 1993, the channel’s annual broadcast has served as an alternative to the monarch’s annual televised address and aims to bring viewers a message about that year’s events.

Presenters in previous years include the former president of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; the whistle-blower Edward Snowden; The Simpsons; John Bercow, the former speaker of the House of Commons; and the actor Danny Dyer.

In 2022, one of the world’s most advanced robots delivered a speech generated entirely by AI.

The Alternative Christmas Message with Fry will air on Channel 4 at 5.10pm on Christmas Day.

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