Gordon’s ‘Jewish Joke’ Triggers Tumult

On a recent broadcast on the Amsterdam station AT5, referring to the Jewish heritage of Barbara Streisand, visiting the Netherlands for two performances, Gordon quipped: “I don’t think she needs the money. But who can blame her? I’d do the same thing. That’s a Jewish thing.”

Asscher — also with Jewish background — is not pleased. In his view, Gordon serves as a role model and this type of comment is unacceptable. Yesterday he twittered the following: “Roundtable talk about anti-Semitism with youth, ‘funny-guy,’ Gordon, fails as good example.” Gordon responded to RTL Boulevard by saying he was baffled by Asscher’s anger and wanted to make clear that he is not an anti-Semite. The politician says that he would look forward to engaging in dialogue with the singer. 

The singer, with the given name, Cornelis Willem Heuckeroth had a commercial hit in 1990 with the song, ‘Kon ik maar even bij je zijn’ (If I could just spend some time with you) but had little success in the years to follow. In recent years, he made his comeback as face of the vocal group, Toppers. The group performs yearly sellout sing-along concerts in the Amsterdam ArenA.