Jan Friedrichsen doesn't understand why everyone thinks he's an anti-semitic bigot

Seriously.  Our correspondence:

From: Jan Friedrichsen [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2018 10:02 AM
To: Leiter, Brian <[email protected]>
Subject: Anti-semitic email

Dear Mr. Leiter

Thank you for publishing my email. But I really don' t understand why you think I am an anti-semit. I assume you are able to read. There is nothing anti-semitic in the email. You made the effort to publish my email, so you should also make the effort to explain to me why you think I am an anti-semit. Ok, I offended Mr. Melamed, but is it anti-semitic to offend a jew?

And I want you to know that I am not afraid because you published it. I really like it. I got two reactions, one man cursed at me and the other wrote that I am right. I'm waiting for your explanation why I am an anti-semit. A man with your academic reputation should have the decency not to denounce someone publicly without explanation. 

Sincerely Jan Friedrichsen

My reply:

Dear Mr. Friedrichsen:

It’s hard to know whether you’re being serious.  But let me help you:

1. Denying Professor Melamed’s testimony that the German police participated in the killing of his grandparents on the grounds that the German police “did NOT kill anyone” sounds like you are denying the Holocaust, which as you know is a crime in Germany and which is something only denied by anti-semites.
2. Even if you weren’t denying the Holocaust, denying, on the basis of no evidence, what the German police did to Professor Melamed’s family suggests hostility towards Jews that is typical of anti-semites; normal people accept the testimony of others about their family history.
3. Referring to “fucking stupid Jews” is not a phrase used by anyone who is not an anti-semite.
4. Referring to Israel as a “fucking desert” and suggesting Prof. Melamed return there are statements that would not be made by a normal human being but only by an anti-semite.

You are, as I said, what’s wrong with the human race.  I hope the German police investigate you (though I hope they don’t beat you, as they did Prof. Melamed).

I am adding you to my list of blocked senders, so don’t bother writing again.

Very truly yours,

Brian Leiter

 UPDATE:  In the interest of fairness--yes, fairness to unself-aware anti-semites--Mr. Friedrichsen left me a phone message claiming I had misunderstood his e-mails, that they were due to his not being a native speaker of English.  He claims, for example, that he does not deny the Holocaust, he was saying only that the Bonn police had not killed anyone.  And he claims that if he had been writing to a footballer, he would have said "fucking stupid footballers."  He was adamant, but polite in the message he left me.  I leave it to readers to draw their own conclusions.