Alice Walker defends praise of widely condemned author

NEW YORK – Alice Walker is defending her praise of a British author widely condemned as an anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist.

Walker, best known for her novel “The Color Purple,” wrote on her blog this week that David Icke’s work was “very important to humanity’s conversation,” and disputed allegations of his anti-Semitism. She also tied the “smear” of Icke, and herself, to her protests against Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

Many criticized Walker after she cited Icke’s “And the Truth Shall Set You Free” as a favourite book during a recent New York Times interview.

Ickes has promoted the fraudulent, anti-Semitic “The Protocols of Zion” and has blamed “a small Jewish clique” for helping start World War I and World War II. He has also said the world has been infiltrated by alien reptiles.