Google reassigns diversity chief who wrote Jews have ‘an insatiable appetite for war’

Google is removing its head of diversity strategy from his post — but keeping him in the company — after a 2007 blog post surfaced in which he wrote that Jews have “an insatiable appetite for war and killing,” and an “insensitivity” to people’s suffering.

Kamau Bobb, whose bio still reads “Global Lead for Diversity Strategy and Research at Google,” “will no longer be part of our diversity team going forward and will focus on his STEM work,” Google said in a statement.

Google noted that the discovery of Bobb’s now-deleted 2007 blog post titled “If I Were a Jew” comes “at a time where we’ve seen an alarming increase in antisemitic attacks.”

“We unequivocally condemn the past writings by a member of our diversity team that are causing deep offense and pain to members of our Jewish community and our LGBTQ+ community,” Google said. “These writings are unquestionably hurtful. The author acknowledges this and has apologized.”

Bobb’s removal from his role as diversity chief comes days after the Washington Free Beacon surfaced his blog post. 

In the post, he described how he believed Jews should view the Middle East conflict as he assailed Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon at the time. He was then a research associate in technology at Georgia Tech.

“If I were a Jew I would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing in defense of myself,” he wrote.

“Self defense is undoubtedly an instinct, but I would be afraid of my increasing insensitivity to the suffering (of) others. My greatest torment would be that I’ve misinterpreted the identity offered by my history and transposed spiritual and human compassion with self righteous impunity.”

Bobb — a graduate of Midwood High School in Brooklyn — slammed the Israeli government, argued that Jews should be “tormented” by the country’s actions and said Jewish suffering, particularly the Holocaust, should theoretically give them more “human compassion.”

“If I were a Jew today, my sensibilities would be tormented. I would find it increasingly difficult to reconcile the long cycles of oppression that Jewish people have endured and the insatiable appetite for vengeful violence that Israel, my homeland, has now acquired,” he wrote.

https://twitter.com/michaeldickson/status/1400014005717110784

“This reconciliation would be particularly difficult now, in November, 79 years after Kristallnacht – the Night of Broken Glass,” Bobb continued.

“The anniversary of this dreadfully monumental day in my history would bring me pause. It would force me to reflect on the legacy of extraordinary human suffering. I might wonder how the vicious eruption of cruelty in the mid-twentieth century has influenced the shape of my identity as a Jewish person and our collective identity as Jewish people,” he added.

In other comments about conflict in the region, he wrote: “I don’t know how I would reconcile that identity with the behavior of fundamentalist Jewish extremists or of Israel as a nation. The details would confuse me.

“I wouldn’t understand those who suggest that bombing Lebanon, slaughtering Lebanese people and largely destroying Beirut in retaliation for the capture of a few soldiers is justified,” Bobb continued.

“I wouldn’t understand the notion of collective punishment, cutting off gas, electricity and water from residents in Gaza because they are attacking Israel who is fighting against them. It would be unconscionable to me to watch Israeli tanks donning the Star of David rumbling through Ramallah destroying buildings and breaking the glass,” he added.

Bobb was said to have sent an apology this week to the “Jewgler” Employee Resource Group at the company.

“My blog is a place for my personal reflection on a number of complex issues spanning years. reading it again and seeing the pain it’s caused, i would like to respond directly and honestly,” he wrote in an email obtained by The Post.

“Let me first apologize. what I wrote crudely characterized the entire jewish community. what was intended as a critique of particular military action fed into antisemitic tropes and prejudice. i think we can all agree, there is no easy solution to this situation. but that’s beside the point. the way I expressed my views on that conflict were hurtful,” Bobb wrote.

“My work here at google is focused on expanding computing pathways through our interface with educational institutions. The world is leaving us all feeling unsafe and unsettled right now. i certainly don’t want to contribute to that,” he wrote.

“None of this changes or excuses the words i wrote – but i am deeply sorry for them,” he added.

https://twitter.com/michaeldickson/status/1400014011488481281

Bobb’s bio describes him as “the Global Lead for Diversity Strategy and Research at Google and the founding Senior Director of the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing at Georgia Tech.”

He holds a Ph.D. in science and technology policy from Georgia Tech and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Google and Bobb both faced criticism this week for his 2007 remarks.

Michael Dickson, executive director of Stand With Us, which fights anti-Semitism, responded in a series of tweets.

“I searched for ‘antisemitism’ and ‘hypocrisy.’ Here’s what I found. Google Diversity Head @kamaubobb Said Jews Have ‘Insatiable Appetite for War,’” he wrote, linking to the Free Beacon piece.

“Did @Google Google him? He’s not fit for this post,” he added.

In another tweet, Dickson wrote that Bobb made “revolting, and antisemitic, comparisons between Nazi actions and that of the world’s only Jewish country. He portrays Jews as bloodthirsty.”

He @Google – what say you?”

Meanwhile, the Jewish human rights organization Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted: “Google must fire this #antisemite #KamauBobb.’”