It seemed like a Chanukah miracle. Ye had finally decided to shut up, and rumor is he left for Zambia in order to "get the Jews off his back" (Joke's on him, Chabad has been in Zambia since 1991, and there's been a Jewish community there since World War II, primarily refugees and Holocaust survivors).
Yet, after a few days without any antisemitic outbursts in the news, we needed some form of controversy, and it was delivered to us in the guise of up-and-coming actress Jenna Ortega's call to "decolonize palestine."
It would be easy to ignore this for two reasons 1) Who? and 2) Who cares? Sadly, someone at Netflix decided the best way to promote their new show featuring Ortega was to dredge up tweets she made almost a year ago to show how "socially conscious" she was. Of course, it worked like a charm:
And this is precisely why celebrities attacking Israel or showing 'solidarity with palestine' should be expected; it's not because of antisemitism, but because it's the easiest low-risk way to establish an illusion of social consciousness with as little backlash or cost possible. And it's our fault for letting it happen.
1) Brand Recognition
Did you know that there are 36 armed conflicts that killed more people than the clashes in Israel throughout 2022? That all of them had a far higher ratio of civilians to combatants deaths? Neither does the average IG or Twitter user.
The Israeli territorial dispute is by far the most recognizable armed conflict out there. This is why the palestinians expressed their anger that Ukraine's resistance became such a part of the Western consciousness, simultaneously afraid of losing their primacy and jealous of the intense engagement while their cause has been relegated to the back burner in a post-Abraham Accords world. After all, when's the last time there was an organized campaign of putting palestinian flags in your Twitter profile or post it as your Instagram status?
Everyone knows what you're talking about when you express an opinion on Israel. When you speak about Tigray, most of your fans won't know what you're referencing, they don’t even know that there’s such a thing as Tigray, and therefore the impact will be minimal. Why should they be impressed with your political acumen, virtue signaling and how socially conscious you are if they first have to get educated about what you're lecturing them? It's pretty demanding of your fans to require them to spend significant time learning about a subject when all you're seeking is a 'like' from them and to watch your unrelated TV show.
If you talk about other conflicts, there’s the risk you might ruffle the wrong feathers. No one who has any stake in the Chinese market or gets Chinese money through American-owned Universities or companies will ever say anything about the Uyghur in China or the current protests. Nothing to gain, everything to lose.
Do you think they want to learn mandarin so they can apologize on video?
2) Low Risk
Ever since the brief but dominating Israeli victory in the Six-Day War, there has more or less been an agreement in the Western World about the I/p conflict. As far as the political Left, the artistic community, the media, and academia are concerned, Israel is the bad guy. No two ways about it. Crossing the threshold from the underdog to self-reliant and self-confident was an unforgivable mistake, not that Soviet money and propaganda did not help make it happen as well.
Sure, the political perception in America differs from Europe, and your average US citizen tends to be more pro-Israel. Still, it was always the 'trendy' thing to be when it came to American Far-Left, the Art world, the Media, and Academia. And thanks to the cultural impact of these institutions, America is slowly trending towards the European view on the issue as well.
So, when you embrace palestine, not only are you going along with the consensus of your peers, but there are two corollaries:
"If the pro-Israel public gets offended, so what?"
"f Jews get offended, so what?'"
The Pro-Israel side doesn't riot, stop speakers from doing their speeches, boycott, threaten or organize campaigns for the most part. Ben & Jerry's is the exception, not the rule. How many people stopped listening to Pink Floyd because of Roger Waters? How many Dua Lipa fans dropped her as a result?
At the end of the day, most people on the Israeli side who hear that a musician, artist, or intellectual made an anti-Israel statement will shrug it off, say it's expected, and keep buying their products. People are just used to it, expect it even. Just shrug it off and move on.
And even if some significant part of their pro-Israel fanbase stopped giving them their money, it's usually a tiny portion of their global audience. To be openly pro-Israel, Morrissey being a good illustration, puts you at significant risk of alienating a much more extensive portion of your fanbase than staying silent or bashing Israel.
As far as Jews, the popular Western perception goes: "Sure, the Holocaust was wrong, but it's been a long time, you guys have a lot of money, you're white, you guys are safe in the West, and you're clearly stronger than the palestinians. You have Hollywood & tanks, and they have bottle rockets." In other words, who cares about your feelings (or what actually happens in Israel or the West)?
So what if, per capita, we are victims of the most hate crimes in the US by a degree of magnitudes, that we need to armed security in synagogues or schools in Europe, that it's either illegal or a death sentence for us to travel as Jews in most of the Middle-East or North Africa? So what if their beliefs about us and Israel are wrong? It's the public perception, and almost no one fights back.
As long as you do not cross the line into overt antisemitism, you will hear that "Jews are too touchy/complain too much about antisemitism", "Criticism of Israel or antizionism doesn't equate antisemitism", how “of course” comments about the 'Jewish lobby' are wrong, but it's different when it's about the Israeli lobby, etc.
Neither facts nor our feelings matter in terms of public perception.
3) A self-inflicted Wound
Sadly, we are collectively responsible for this because of two reasons:
Jews running interference for them
Jewish institutions protecting them
There are enough Jews who are willing to go with the public narrative on account that:
They genuinely believe said narrative
They run around those circles & don't want to alienate their peers, lose out on opportunities, etc
They are fans of the people making these statements
There’s a serious amount of Jews growing up without a real connection to either Judaism, Jewish History, or Israel and, as a result, buy into the dominant narrative. This shows we need to do a better job reaching out to and educating especially young Jewish children, so that by the time they reach College or University, they are not swayed by the tides of academic antisemitism.
There's also the concern of Jewish celebrities who are desperate to be seen as 'the good Jew' and will sheepishly protest to their non-Jewish audience that they are against Israel when it's clear they have no idea what they are talking about.
People are willing to close their eyes when someone they idolize does or says something they disagree with. How many were willing to give Kanye a pass and excused his antisemitism at first? It took him literally repeating over & over how much he loves Hitler for some to admit it finally. As long as you have so many Jews willing to go along with or give cover to anti-Israel statements from celebrities, it isn't going to stop.
Why should any celebrity not make such statements when you consider all this? They get a rabid anti-Israel fanbase who will promote them because they stick it to the Zionist entity, they won't lose money from the pro-Israel fan, or the other side will offset it, etc.
Most importantly, no one important to them in their professional life, whether it's media outlets, universities, or their political parties, will contradict them or tell them to toe the line and they better stop being anti-Israel.
What if they go too far in their advocacy and slip into naked antisemitism? That's where our communal organizations step in and make things worse. As I wrote regarding Kanye:
My somewhat cynical thinking was that this would turn into the same old dance that happens every time a celebrity or politician makes an antisemitic statement.
Step 1: Radio silence as the PR firm hired to clean the mess up assesses the situation.
Step 2: A carefully crafted statement about how none of it was meant with ill will is published.
Step 3a: If benign enough, jump to Step 5.
Step 3b: If the incident is too bad to sidestep, blame stress, substance abuse, divorce, or mental illness.
Step 4: Time off the limelight (length determined based on how egregious the statements were).
Step 5: Meeting(s) with activists/Rabbis/visiting a Holocaust museum, depending on what was said.
Step 6: Possible donation to a Jewish foundation
Step 7: Antisemitism absolved! Nothing happened! We're all good!
Whether it's Mel Gibson, Whoopi Goldberg, or the Squad, this is the scripted waltz that everyone dances to; it allows everyone to save face and safeguards the illusionary equilibrium that leaves America thinking that it is not plagued with antisemitism. This is something especially important for those who live in the Upper East Side or Beverly Hills. It's not like the unprecedented levels of hate crimes, ranging from vandalism to daily assaults and downright murders of Orthodox Jews, are ever cause for national concern. No #StopOrthodoxHate campaigns for that lot.
In a surprising twist, Kanye decided to start flailing about and do the running man instead of sticking to the well-worn script. Things began to spiral out of control, and after a few more outbursts, brands and businesses realized there was no putting the genie back in the bottle; it was time to cut loose. It would be false to say that antisemitism lost him all of those contracts and according to him up to 2 billion in net worth; it was the unpredictability and lack of reining his antics in that did it. If he had decided to act more like Nick Cannon and less like his dimwit brother Loose, Adidas would still be selling Yeezys, and he'd still be part of the Nine Zeros club. So, what happened?
Let’s remember: nothing happened to Kanye after he openly declared his love of Hitler and Nazis, because the truth is that there is no real consequences for antisemitism, there’s only consequences for shaming your advertisers in public. When no one is at risk of losing money, nothing happens. When Jewish institutions help in making sure that there are no consequences, they insure that the cycle will continue.
As long as we allow our communal institution to create a climate of tolerance for antisemitism and antizionism for celebrities and politicians if they willingly submit themselves to this ritual and pay to expiate their sins, nothing will change. No amount of money or meetings with the NCAAP is going to salvage the career of a celebrity who engages in anti-black racism, so why should we tolerate it?
In conclusion, it's clear that if we do not take drastic steps to strengthen Jewish education and change how the Jewish establishment functions, it will not get better. In fact, it's going to get much worse. We can expect it to get exponentially worse in the thanks to the antisemitism & antizionism that has spread from academia down to the nation's public schools.
Thankfully, we are called Hebrews after Avraham Avinu, who stood on one side of the river while the world stood on the other. Throughout Israeli history, Jews ultimately only depended on other Jews. As long as we don’t forget this, we will manage. We will not only manage but thrive & ultimately prevail.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Exactly what the last guy said. I view the situation the same as you but you write it up far better than anyone out there including Bari Weiss. I have often wondered why the Left is so obsessed with this issue. When asked, some of the "progressives" in the US will say, "well we give Israel 3 billion a year, that's why!". Suddenly a bunch of fiscal conservatives.
But that doesn't explain why the Leftists in the UK, and Canada, most of Western Europe, Australia are also obsessed with attacking Israel and the "oppressed" Palestinians, because they dont send any money, Germany an obvious exception. It comes down to the new form of modern antisemitism, Anti "Zionism", the new politically correct, hip way to attack the Jews without being labeled antisemitic. Just look at Mark Ruffalo's anti Zionism screeds to his 12 million "followers''. The folks in the Jewish world who have done the public relations for the term Zionism should be fired.
I have long held similar beliefs but never found the words to describe the beliefs. Your words ring true to me. Thanks.