Beware Fake Jews

You would be forgiven if this past week confused you about the state of antisemitism in America and what can, and what should not, be done about it. There was even a self-destructive reminder of how Jews themselves feel about what’s been happening around them—a crisis manifested in both the hatred of Jews, and Jewish self-hatred.

It all unfolded with dizzying spectacles of visual misinformation. Some of it was, perhaps, well-intentioned. But I wouldn’t count on this surge in antisemitic fervor subsiding anytime soon—no matter the remedy. There’s far too much social acceptance of it since Israel began its war of self-defense after the massacre that was October 7, 2023.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, spent $7 million for a thirty-second ad that aired during the Super Bowl. It featured his former quarterback, Tom Brady, and rapper Snoop Dogg, telling each other how much they hated one another, their voices rising with each declaration, the reasons for their respective disgusts sounding innocuous and silly.

That, it seems, was the ostensible point: all hatred, the pitchmen eventually concluded, is “stupid.”

But those who hate Jews around the world—especially at this present moment—are defiant in their belief that they have reasons to do so. They feel, quite passionately, that global Jewry deserves to be punished for a litany of sins—one in particular, as payback on behalf of the Palestinians of Gaza.

Regrettably, spiking antisemitism on city streets and college campuses is not the sort of thing that thirty seconds of ad time can easily cure. No one watching Kraft’s antidote for antisemitism, with its decidedly misguided messaging, would be persuaded to turn the channel to a different set of beliefs.

Regrettably, spiking antisemitism on city streets and college campuses is not the sort of thing that thirty seconds of ad time can easily cure.

The depth of hatred is one thing. But the ad makes no mention of Jews, antisemitism, or the tragic events of October 7, which launched these latest menaces. Kraft was obviously aiming for a more subtle, indirect approach. Focus on universal hatred, in the abstract. Ignore the particular, with its elephantine antisemitic dimensions. Viewers will get the point.

No, they won’t, and they didn’t. They either missed it entirely or simply chose to ignore it.

What’s worse, Snoop Dogg has had longstanding ties to world-class antisemite Louis Farrakhan, the lunatic cleric from the Nation of Islam. Perhaps that’s why the Super Bowl ad neglected to mention Jews as objects of hatred: The rapper didn’t want to deceive 126 million viewers. Abstract hate may be “stupid,” but animosity directed at Jews is positively righteous.

If Kraft had replaced Brady with Julian Edelman, a former Patriot who is also a member of the Jewish Tribe, Snoop Dogg might have been more forthcoming, wagging his tail, refusing to hold his tongue.

Yet another African-American rapper, Kanye West, or Ye as he now calls himself, also appeared in a Super Bowl ad. He, however, had no problem making his true feelings about Jews explicitly known.

He invited viewers to visit his website where his clothing line was selling just one item: a white T-shirt with the Nazi swastika. It was labeled HH-01, for “Heil Hitler,” and sold for $20 each. As a sign of the times, it generated $2 million in sales before the website that hosts his apparel took the store offline.

No surprise. Ye has over 20 million Instagram followers. There are only 15.7 million Jews in the world — a number that would have reached 32 million if not for the murderous ideology that Ye now purports to follow.

Before the week ended, Jews had apparently had enough. A video appeared on social media showcasing a number of Jewish celebrities—Sacha Baron Cohen, Drake, Steven Spielberg, Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Zuckerberg and others—wearing their own white T-shirts, but this one featured a hand with a Star of David giving the middle finger to Ye.

It became an instant sensation among Jews who shared it countless times on social media. The very same Jews who have been petrified to speak out against antisemitism or support Israel’s war in Gaza finally broke their silence—all on account of a star-studded video that, apparently, emboldened them.

Except for one problem: the video was AI-generated. It was fake. And what’s more, it featured Jews who have had their heads buried in the Hollywood sand—risk-averse A-listers squandering their self-respect. Natalie Portman, a sabra, once refused to accept an award from her motherland. The only two depicted in the video who had, fact, taken a public stance in support of Israel were Jerry Seinfeld and David Schwimmer. (Scarlett Johansson has done so in the past.)

Two millennia of defamation have taught Jews to live in reality. History compels them to do so. The world of make-believe belongs to their enemies.

An AI-generated video intended to rebuff a bigoted rapper only plays into the delusions of antisemites everywhere. Beware attributing intelligence within the artificial. When images are deliberately fake, it invites distorted truths. If one can’t trust what’s visible, then all kinds of falsehoods become plausible: Jews have no connection to the Holy Land; Israel is a “settler-colonialist enterprise”; an Arab nation called Palestine actually once existed.

Less renowned Jews had things to say last week, as well. This time, however, they were real people. Responding to President Trump’s proposal to relocate Gaza’s population to neighboring Arab nations, over 350 rabbis, writers and artists took out a full-page ad in the New York Times opposing the move, calling it “ethnic cleansing!”

I won’t dignify the signatories by listing their names. I have a low tolerance for social preening and gagging moral superiority. Jews who casually accept the torching of Israeli infants and gangraping of its girls are beneath contempt. Notice how this costly advertisement made no mention of what happened on October 7. The fate of the hostages in Gaza merited no mention, either.

No matter what they say, the signers of that petition are not Jews. Go ahead: expose your circumcised member. Recite the Shema. Swear that a tree is planted in Israel in your family’s name. Pretend that enjoying a good bagel now and then is a sign of solidarity.

It doesn’t prove a thing.

If your name is on that list, you’re not a Jew—at least not one who deserves to be counted among the tribe. You have no awareness of Jewish history. You have desecrated the memory of millions. And you are without tender feelings for your people.

If your name is on that list, you’re not a Jew—at least not one who deserves to be counted among the tribe. You have no awareness of Jewish history. You have desecrated the memory of millions. And you are without tender feelings for your people.

Worst of all, you lack the humility, common decency and gratitude of those who, very much unlike you, are unafraid to stand up for Jews, and have sacrificed something or someone to defend the Jewish state.

Thane Rosenbaum is a novelist, essayist, law professor and Distinguished University Professor at Touro University, where he directs the Forum on Life, Culture & Society. He is the legal analyst for CBS News Radio. His most recent book is titled “Saving Free Speech … From Itself,” and his forthcoming book is titled, “Beyond Proportionality: Israel’s Just War in Gaza.”