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Whoopi Goldberg's suspension from "The View" following her controversial remarks about the Holocaust welcomes an "important" opportunity for ABC to take accountability and demonstrate a "national teaching moment," Rabbi Abraham Cooper of Los Angeles' Simon Wiesenthal Center says.
Speaking to Fox News Digital Friday, the associate dean and director of Global Social Action for the Jewish human rights organization said he believes Goldberg's suspension was appropriate, but there's more to be done. He also shared his view that Goldberg is "not an anti-Semite."
"Whoopi Goldberg knows our center. She knows Rabbi Marvin Hier, our CEO and founder," Rabbi Cooper said. "We're not dealing with someone here who spoke in order to hurt anyone in our community. But what she said obviously is extremely confusing to people and in many ways hurtful."
"Whoopi Goldberg has been held accountable for her speech. That's fine. Now, ABC puts ‘The View’ on air, so ABC also has to take some responsibilities as the platform that delivered that information."
WHOOPI GOLDBERG SUSPENDED FROM 'THE VIEW' FOLLOWING HOLOCAUST REMARKS
Whoopi Goldberg was suspended from ‘The View’ for two weeks following her remarks about the Holocaust. (Walt Disney Television/Lou Rocco)
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has welcomed 7 million people through its doors since it opened in 1977, the rabbi said. The center teaches about racism, about the genocide of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism. Some 180,000 police officers have also been trained there.
Rabbi Cooper shared that the center reached out to Goldberg the morning after her on-air comments sparked controversy. He's now informing ABC that "The View" is "welcome anytime."
"The most important thing now is where did this idea [Goldberg shared] come from? And why it's wrong," the rabbi said.
Cooper said the Simon Weisenthal Center's educational arm, the Museum of Tolerance, has a 300-seat theater and is a fitting place for "The View" to film from.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG ISSUES APOLOGY FOR HOLOCAUST COMMENTS: 'I STAND CORRECTED'
"ABC is welcome to come broadcast here for a week from the Museum of Tolerance. Maybe one or two of those days might be town hall meetings. Let people express themselves. It's not about suppressing speech. It's a matter of now an important learning moment that needs to be grabbed. All of that cannot be just on the shoulders of one person who misspoke," Cooper said.
Jewish groups condemned the comments, accusing ‘The View’ co-host of minimizing Jewish suffering. ( REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)
"The best result of all of this will be that millions of Americans will be able to understand why [Goldberg] was wrong, where did that all come from and how do we fight racism and hate together."
The rabbi also spoke of the uptick in hate crimes in recent years, specifically against Jewish communities.
"We're in a crisis mode on anti-Semitism," he said. "I think part of the visceral reaction from the Jewish community when this statement was made is, we're already on edge in terms of what's going on with these hate crimes. Over the last four decades, the American Jewish communities have probably spent hundreds of millions of dollars to secure the physical safety of people coming to synagogue on Friday night or Saturday, of our kids going to Jewish schools, of people going to a Jewish community center."
WHOOPI GOLDBERG SUSPENDED FROM 'THE VIEW' FOLLOWING HOLOCAUST REMARKS
In terms of how "The View" should handle the controversy moving forward, the rabbi said the next step is "really up to ABC." He's also hoping that the ABC talk show doesn't conclude the discussion on this with a "three-minute thing at the beginning and then say, ‘We’re moving on.'"
Goldberg attempted to explain her remarks during her appearance on 'The Late Show.' (Late Show screenshot)
"There's an important opportunity here for a national teaching moment," he concluded.
ABC News President Kim Goodwin announced Goldberg's two-week suspension in a statement Tuesday.
"Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments. While Whoopi has apologized, I've asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends and communities," the statement says.
Goldberg went viral on Monday when she argued that the Holocaust "isn't about race," stunning her colleagues at the table.
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"What is it about?" co-host Joy Behar asked.
"It’s about man’s inhumanity to man, that’s what it’s about," Goldberg said.
"But it’s about a White supremacist going after Jews and Gypsies," guest co-host Ana Navarro said as Goldberg attempted to speak over her.
"But these are two White groups of people," Goldberg said, her colleagues disagreeing.
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Jewish groups condemned the comments, accusing her of minimizing Jewish suffering.
Goldberg attempted to explain her remarks during an appearance on "The Late Show."
"It upset a lot of people which was never, ever, ever, ever my intention … I thought we were having a discussion," Goldberg told Stephen Colbert. "I think of race as being something that I can see … You couldn’t tell who was Jewish. They had to delve deeply to figure it out … My point is, they had to do the work."
She also told Colbert, "I don’t want to fake apologize … I’m very upset that people misunderstood what I was saying."
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