Death threats to Jews from rap star Kanye West and an extreme example of campus anti-Zionism across the pond have spurred American celebrities speak out against antisemitism.
The likes of David Schwimmer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer have long warned of the dangers of right-wing Jew-hate, but they are now beginning to acknowledge that the same form of racism can also come from the left — and the mouths of other minorities.
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David Schwimmer
Last week saw a prolonged social media attack from Mr West in which he threatened to “go death con 3 on Jewish people”, adding that he could not be antisemitic because “black people are actually Jew also.”
He continued over the weekend saying he had been thrown off social media because of the power of “the Jewish media”.
He also claimed: “Jewish people control the black voice.”
It was then reported that he was to buy the controversial right-wing social media platform Parler. Friends star David Schwimmer was among the first to condemn the rapper.
He wrote on Instagram: “Antisemitism is on the rise globally. Jews make up only 2.4 per cent of the population of the United States but are the victims of more than 60 per cent of all religious hate crimes.
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Sarah Silverman
"Whether or not Kanye West is mentally ill, there’s no question he is a bigot. His hate speech calls for violence against Jews.
“If you interpret his words any other way and defend him, guess what? You are racist.
“If we don’t call out someone as influential as Kanye for his divisive, ignorant and antisemitic words, then we are complicit. Silence is complicity.”
Comic Sarah Silverman also waded in, saying: “Kanye threatened the Jews on Twitter and it’s not even trending.
“Why do mostly only Jews speak up against Jewish hate? The silence is so loud.”
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, whose parents were Hungarian Jews, also spoke emotionally about Mr West’s tirade.
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Jamie Lee Curtis
“I burst into tears, I woke up and burst into tears,” she told the American television show Today. “Death con 3 on Jewish people? What are you doing? It’s bad enough that fascism is on the rise around the world. But on Twitter, on a portal, to pour that in? As if Jewish people haven’t had it hard enough?”
And in a rare political intervention, comedian and actor Amy Schumer joined the chorus of condemnation by tweeting a video from her comedy show Inside Amy Schumer in which she plays a Jewish character. In the sketch, colleagues go through various scenarios to avoid upsetting their workmates.
But when Ms Schumer’s character suffers antisemitism — remarks that Jews are rich and can lend money, are cheap and control the weather — her colleagues fail to recognise the offence.
Ms Schumer captioned the video with the words: “Keep your antisemitism to yourself.”
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Amy Schumer
Meanwhile, lifelong Democrat Barbra Streisand was the first big name in showbiz to publicly confront anti-Jewish racism at the University of California, Berkeley, after a new rule was passed at its law school banning Zionist speakers.
“When does anti-Zionism bleed into broad anti-semitism?” she asked on Twitter.
She was followed on the platform by Ms Silverman: “Nine student law groups from UC Berkeley ban any Jews who believe Israel should be able to exist. “Even those (most Jews) who are against occupation and who fight for a two-state solution.
This is just the beginning. Please help fight anti-Jewish racism.”
The events at Berkeley follow a number of recent attacks on Jews at American universities, which include Jewish sexual assault victims being driven out of a survivor group at the State University of New York, and swastikas and an antisemitic slur being daubed outside the office of a Jewish professor at Columbia.
