Author not anti-Semite, court told

The David Irving libel trial: special report

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday February 1 2000 00.49 GMT

A Judaism authority yesterday told the Holocaust libel trial at the high court in London that he did not consider historian David Irving to be anti-Semitic.

Author Kevin MacDonald, professor of psychology at California state university, was giving evidence on Mr Irving's behalf during his damages action against American academic Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books over a claim that he is a "Holocaust denier".

Mr Irving, 62, the author of Hitler's War, asked Prof MacDonald, who has written books on Judaism and anti-Semitism: "Do you consider me to be an anti-Semite?"

Prof MacDonald replied: "I do not consider you to be an anti-Semite. I have had quite a few discussions with you and you almost never mentioned Jews, never in the general negative way."

Mr Irving has denied an allegation by the defendants that he has made statements "designed to feed the virulent anti-Semitism" still present throughout the world.

The case continues