Julie Burchill. Photo: Twitter.

Julie Burchill

Journalist

British journalist Julie Burchill isn’t exactly the kind of person who inspires neutrality – the vast majority of people, most Brits agree, either love her or hate her. But few doubt that she has some entertaining stories to tell, not least from her years as the primary chronicler of the punk rock phenomenon, when she hung out with such luminaries as The Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Ramones. Arguably just as well-known as her punk journalism, at least these days, is Burchill’s adoration of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Last year, she published the ironically-titled Unchosen, in which she details a romance with Judaism that blossomed into full-throated defenses of Israel, along with an abiding belief that, as The Spectator put it, “the Jews are smarter, more successful and better than the rest of you lot.”