Pol rattled by Jewish query Va. sen. rips 'aspersions'
2006-09-20
Source: New York Daily News
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rss feedVirginia Republican Sen. George Allen, already accused of making a racially insensitive comment during his reelection campaign, raised eyebrows this week by getting visibly angry when asked whether he had any Jewish ancestors.
He told the reporter who asked the question to stop "making aspersions."
"It was such an odd overreaction," said University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato. "Why didn't he just say, 'Sure I've got Jewish ancestors - and I'm looking forward to getting some Jewish votes!'"
Though Allen often says his grandfather was imprisoned by the Nazis, he said he only learned in August that the man was Jewish, when the Forward newspaper traced him to a prominent Sephardic family.
"Whenever we would ask my mother through the years about our family background on her side, the answer always was, 'Who cares about that?'" Allen wrote in a statement released yesterday.
Allen said it was "reprehensible that a reporter would impugn the attitudes of my mother" and said he was not ashamed of his heritage.
He said his mother was raised as a Christian.
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