Anti-racist group: Get rid of 'Jew or Not Jew' app

[rug]

By JENNY BARCHFIELD
updated 9/14/2011 3:06:32 PM ET 2011-09-14T19:06:32

PARIS — A French anti-racism group has threatened to sue Apple over an iPhone application called "A Jew or Not a Jew?" that allows users to consult a database of celebrities and public figures to determine whether they are Jewish or not.

SOS Racisme said the application, sold for $1.07 on the Apple Store France, violates France's strict laws banning the compiling of people's personal details without their consent.

Under the French penal code, stocking personal details including race, sexuality, political leanings or religious affiliation is punishable by five-year prison sentences and fines of up to $411,870.

Such laws were enacted in the decades following the Holocaust, which saw some 76,000 Jews deported from Nazi-occupied France to concentration camps. Fewer than 3,000 returned alive.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44521751/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

[Deep13]

1. Reminds me of the game Dead, Gay or Canadian?

If I say Deforrest Kelly, you would say "dead."

George Takei, gay.

William Shatner, Canadian

[Behind the Aegis]

2. I don't understand the point of the app.

Why would anyone needs such an application? Short on minyon? WHO'S A JEW! But, seriously, WTF?!

Personally, I think it is just another example of the continuing rise in anti-Semitism. I will say I am surprised there haven't been any major attacks against Jews in awhile, but I fear it is coming. I really wonder how some will react.

[iris27]

3. WTH? This reminds me of the "Out the Beaner" segment on the

similarly racist and thankfully short-lived show "Mind of Mencia".

[ZombieHorde]

4. So odd. I wonder how people used that information. nt

[deacon_sephiroth]

5. I just assumed it was for Tea-party gunmen to double-check thier hit-lists. n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

6. Don't assume it is just "tea partiers."

[Jim__]

7. According to the article, the app was developed by a Jewish engineer.

Johann Levy, a 35-year-old Franco-British engineer of Jewish origin, developed the application, according to Le Parisien newspaper. In an interview published Wednesday, Levy said he developed the app to be "recreational."

"I'm not a spokesman for all Jews, but as a Jew myself I know that in our community we often ask whether a such-and-such celebrity is Jewish or not," he is quoted as saying.

"For me, there's nothing pejorative about saying that someone is Jewish or not," he said. "On the contrary, it's about being proud."

I doubt that the intent of the app was racist. Of course, it can be used by racists.

Can we, should we, ban anything that can be used in a racist way? I don't think we can. I doubt that we really want to.

[brendan120678]

8. Just download all the different versions of...

Adam Sandler's "Chanukah Song" instead.
That'll give you plenty of information.