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Jewish Journal

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August 25, 2020

Wiley: ‘I’m Not Anti-Semitic If I Say the Jewish Community Are Very Powerful’

Leave a Comment / Culture, News /

In an August 21 interview with a soccer YouTube channel called FilthyFellas,

British rapper Wiley claimed it’s not anti-Semitic to call the Jewish community “very powerful.”

Wiley, born Richard Kylea Cowie Jr., was discussing getting banned from various social media platforms after he issued a series of tweets in July about the Jewish community, including one that read, “Jewish people you make me sick.”

“The Jewish community do own a lot of s— on this plane and they do with other societies run the Earth,” Wiley said. “They own everything. So there’s no point when I say that you say I’m anti-Semitic.”

He later added, “I’m not anti-Semitic if I say the Jewish community are very powerful and they own this and they own that. I’m not wrong. If I said there are some sheikhs and they’re rich and they’ve got oil, am I wrong?”

Earlier in the interview, Wiley claimed the only people he has had issues working with are some in the Jewish community. “The Jewish community does stick together,” Wiley said. “I’m not saying everyone’s rich as hell … there’s rich and poor in every bracket.”

He also brought up Israeli Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef comparing Blacks to monkeys in 2018.

“I’m not saying everyone in the Jewish community agreed with him, but he said it,” Wiley said. “No police went to his house, they didn’t shut down his Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and when I saw that I learned something: you can’t make somebody care about your history more than they care about their own.”

Wiley suggested he was shut down on social media platforms for speaking out against an “unfair world” on behalf of his people. “Twitter, shut down. Who owns Twitter?” Wiley said. “Instagram, shut down. Who owns Instagram? Facebook, shut down, we all know who owns Facebook. YouTube, shut down. Google, who owns that? So that’s the first lot of people who have shown who they are.”

He did acknowledge during the interview that he could have worded his July tweets differently. He also claimed during the interview that a fake tweet of him denying the Holocaust had been circulating on social media.

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted, “Wiley needs to stop, just stop. At the risk of stating the obvious, its #antisemitic to suggest Jews have all the power in the world. He does little more than reveal the depth of his bigotry as he tries to defend his prior hateful comments.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted, “Ever notice some people demand that their rights be protected by all, but when Jews stand up for their rights and dignity?—It’s a conspiracy!”

In a July 29 interview with Sky News, Wiley said it was “silly” to claim it’s anti-Semitic to say that Jews are powerful in business; he did acknowledge that he shouldn’t have generalized all Jewish people in his tweets.

“I want to apologize for generalizing, number one, and I want to apologize for comments that were looked at as anti-Semitic,” Wiley said at the time. “My comments should not have been directed to all Jews or Jewish people.”

He then said that his former manager John Woolf – who is Jewish – as well as Jewish lawyers and “the system” have all “made me feel angry and upset because they are showing me their systemic racism and privilege that they’re allowed to use on us.”

Earlier in August, the British Cabinet Office told the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism that it is reviewing Wiley’s Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE). Wiley told Sky News that his MBE is in Woolf’s possession; a spokesperson for Woolf told Sky News that Wiley could pick up the MBE at any time.

Wiley: ‘I’m Not Anti-Semitic If I Say the Jewish Community Are Very Powerful’ Read More »

AJC CEO Denounces Jemele Hill for Tweeting U.S. ‘Is Nearly as Bad as Nazi Germany’

Leave a Comment / News, United States /

American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO David Harris denounced Jemele Hill, a contributing writer for The Atlantic, for tweeting that the United States “is nearly as bad as Nazi Germany.”

On August 23, Hill tweeted, “Been reading Isabel Wilkerson’s new book, ‘Caste,’ and if you were of the opinion that the United States wasn’t nearly as bad as Nazi Germany, how wrong you are. Can’t encourage you enough to read this masterpiece.”

Harris tweeted in response to Hill, “[America] is imperfect, still striving to achieve its noble aims. But to compare democratic U.S. & Nazi Germany, the most evil, barbaric & deadly regime in history? Words escape me.”

Sinai Temple Rabbi David Wolpe tweeted, “Comparing things to Nazi Germany shows a genuine inability to grasp the magnitude of the Nazi’s cruelties and murders. The Shoah was not a riot, discrimination, segregation or wanton cruelty. It was the planned brutalization and execution of millions.”

In response to one commenter’s criticism, Hill argued that she wasn’t saying “the current state of America is like Nazi Germany. I was referring specifically to our racial history. The parallels have been pointed out by plenty of historians, not just Isabel Wilkerson.”

Former Democratic New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind argued that Hill’s rationale was insufficient. “Jemele, ‘parallels’ as you say now and ‘as bad’ as you said in your original tweet are two different conclusions, for starters,” Hikind tweeted. “Second, the notion that such comparisons serve anything of value is ludicrous, so why do it when you know you’re distorting the truths of both?”

One commenter defended Hill in a reply, stating, “The fact that Nazis studied USA jim crow laws/apartheid system of and determined some measures were too extreme for their purposes and STILL able came up with the Nuremberg Laws leading to the massacre of 6 million souls speaks volumes about USA.”

“Precisely,” Hill replied. “For example, I knew that Hitler admired Henry Ford for his racism. I did not know that they stole the one-drop rule from us as well as criminalizing interracial marriage. Also, what does it say that in 2020, lynching still hasn’t been outlawed?”

The one-drop rule was a Jim Crow-era policy stating “that anyone with any black ancestry was legally black and could not marry a white person,” according to History.com. As part of the Nuremburg Laws, the Nazis banned marriage between Jews and non-Jews; the laws defined someone as Jewish if they had at least three Jewish grandparents, History.com states.

Times of Israel military correspondent Judah Ari Gross tweeted, “That Germany studied American racism before the Holocaust is well documented, troubling and demands recognition and consideration. To leap from that to saying the US was (is?) nearly as bad as the Nazis is ludicrous and unconscionable.”

https://twitter.com/JudahAriGross/status/1297764041256042497?s=20

In July, Hill wrote a piece for The Atlantic expressing remorse about how she wrote in a 2008 ESPN column, “Rooting for the [Boston] Celtics is like saying Hitler was a victim.”

“More than a decade later, I still cringe when I think about it,” Hill wrote. “Not only had I severely insulted the Celtics’ fan base, but I had made a joke about the Nazi leader who orchestrated the murder of 6 million Jewish people. I was, of course, aware of the Holocaust, but I had given little thought to the feelings of the Jewish community because, frankly, it wasn’t my own.”

She added that she subsequently wrote a column apologizing for the joke, and ESPN suspended her for a week.

Hill later addressed Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson’s social media posts that featured a fabricated Hitler quote and glorified Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who Hill said has a “long, vile record of anti-Semitism.”

“The unfortunate truth is that some Black Americans have shown a certain cultural blindspot about Jews,” Hill later wrote. “Stereotypical and hurtful tropes about Jews are widely accepted in the African American community. As a kid, I heard elders in my family say in passing that Jewish people were consumed with making money, and that they ‘owned everything.’ My relatives never dwelled on the subject, and nothing about their tone indicated that they thought anything they were saying was anti-Semitic — not that a lack of awareness would be any excuse.”

She added that the “thirst for liberation and equality can never come at the expense of dehumanizing other marginalized groups — especially at a time when hate crimes against Jews have increased significantly.”

AJC CEO Denounces Jemele Hill for Tweeting U.S. ‘Is Nearly as Bad as Nazi Germany’ Read More »

Corbyn Aide Says Corbyn Couldn’t Empathize With Jews on Anti-Semitism Because ‘the Jewish Community Today Is Relatively Prosperous’

Leave a Comment / News, Worldwide /

A senior adviser to former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is quoted in a newly published book that Corbyn had trouble empathizing with Jews over anti-Semitism because Jews are “relatively prosperous.”

The Times reported the book “Left Out: The Inside Story of Labour Under Corbyn” quotes Corbyn senior adviser Andrew Murray as saying that Corbyn is “empathetic with the poor, the disadvantaged, the migrant, the marginalized … . Happily, that is not the case with the Jewish community in Britain today.”

Murray added that Corbyn would have had empathy for Jews during the Holocaust, but “the Jewish community today is relatively prosperous.”

https://twitter.com/SebastianEPayne/status/1297798677457768448?s=20

Financial Times reporter Sebastian Payne tweeted that a couple of Labour Party Members of Parliament are livid over Murray’s reported comments and think he should be suspended from the party.

https://twitter.com/SebastianEPayne/status/1297810268949483520?s=20

Labour Against Anti-Semitism spokesperson Euan Phillips said in a statement that Murray’s reported comments “highlight further the institutional nature of the anti-Jewish racism in the Labour Party. Mr. Murray’s use of a familiar anti-Jewish trope that portrays Jews as wealthy, to defend Mr. Corbyn, is in our opinion anti-Semitic under the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition.”

Phillips also called for Murray to be suspended from the party and investigated over his reported remarks.

“While people with the apparent views of Mr. Murray and Mr. Corbyn remain in the Labour Party it cannot be considered a safe environment for Jewish members,” he added. “Their continued presence is a serious obstacle to [Labour Party leader] Keir Starmer’s desire to move on from the party’s anti-Semitism crisis, which is why he must move quickly and act decisively.”

Tablet senior writer Yair Rosenberg tweeted, “Think of how many Jews were attacked and gaslit for years for pointing out that Corbyn didn’t understand or take anti-Semitism seriously, only to now see his chief aide just say it out loud. There will be no apology, though, because those gaslighters never cared about Jews.”

He added in a subsequent tweet: “To anti-Semites, we Jews are either evil overlords plundering the gentiles or we’re indolent parasites leeching off non-Jewish resources. Somehow, we are never just normal people like everyone else.”

https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/1297967683686797312?s=20

 

The Jewish Chronicle reported that the “Left Out” book, authored by British journalists Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire, also states Corbyn’s chief of staff Kate Murphy had provided a series of suggestions for Corbyn to smooth over allegations of anti-Semitism, including visiting Auschwitz, conducting an interview with the Israeli outlet Haaretz and outreach to Jewish progressives. The only suggestion Corbyn implemented was amending the Labour Party’s code of conduct to condemn all “forms of prejudice.” Corbyn also was against the party adopting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism because he thought doing so would “police legitimate criticism of the Israeli state’s conduct in Palestine.”

 

Several members of the Labour Party left the party in 2019; most of them said it was because Corbyn enabled anti-Semitism within the party. Corbyn stepped down as leader of the Labour Party following his loss to current Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the December election.

Corbyn Aide Says Corbyn Couldn’t Empathize With Jews on Anti-Semitism Because ‘the Jewish Community Today Is Relatively Prosperous’ Read More »

‘Mrs. Maisel’ Celebrates the Apollo Theater in Virtual Tribute

Leave a Comment / Entertainment /

The third season finale of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” was a showstopping extravaganza that took place at New York’s historic Apollo Theater, and the series celebrated the legendary venue with a one-hour special that aired virtually at Apollotheater.org. 

“A Marvelous Night at the Apollo” mixed clips from the finale highlighting comedy, musical and dance scenes and conversations with creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino, titular star Rachel Brosnahan, Wanda Sykes (Moms Mabley), Sterling K. Brown (Reggie)—all whom are nominated for Emmy Awards—and LeRoy McClain (Shy Baldwin) and Darius de Haas (Shy’s vocals).

Sherman-Palladino revealed that her father, comedian Don Sherman, performed at the Apollo as singer Dinah Washington’s opening act. “The joy of doing this show is to show people the wonders of New York, and the Apollo is such an amazing piece of it,” she said. “The audiences at the Apollo are like nowhere else. [The “A Jewish Girl Walks into the Apollo…” episode] “is a love letter to the Apollo.”

“Being able to play Moms and walking out on that Apollo stage was a transcendent moment,” Sykes said, “For Moms to be on this amazing show, that you brought her back to life.”

Brown, who is also Emmy nominated for his work in “This is Us,” reminisced that as an NYU student, he lived near the Apollo and would ride the bus back and forth on 125th Street to escape his tiny unairconditioned apartment. “That’s the closest I’d come to the Apollo until ‘Mrs. Maisel,’” he said.  

“It was such a pleasure to be part of this season because of the legacy of performance that the Black community and the Jewish community have that run parallel and are intertwined with each other, and also the civil rights pursuit, always being allies,” he continued. “The idea of somebody Black being anti-Semitic or somebody Jewish being anti-Black seems ike an anathema to me because we have a shared history of struggle and performance. I think that legacy of performance comes out of struggle, that need to entertain to put people at ease so that we can be safe. To see the worlds merge in such a lovely way and having been a fan of the show for the first two years, I’m very, very thankful.”

“Mrs. Maisel” is nominated for 20 Emmy awards, second only to “Watchmen” with 26. Find out who wins Sept. 20 on ABC. 

‘Mrs. Maisel’ Celebrates the Apollo Theater in Virtual Tribute Read More »

Two New Streaming Services Offer Exclusively Jewish and Israeli Programming

Leave a Comment / Entertainment /

You can subscribe to Netflix to watch “Shtisel,” “Unorthodox” and “Fauda,” Amazon Prime to stream “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Hunters,” or HBO Max to see Seth Rogen in “An American Pickle,” but if your interest is Jewish and Israeli movies, series and documentaries, there are two new streaming platforms eager to provide you with both. 

ChaiFlicks is offering subscribers an initial collection of 150 Jewish and Israeli movies, shorts and series for $6 per month/$66 per year, after a 14-day free trial. IZZY, featuring movies and shows from Israel, costs $4.99 per month/$49.99 per year for access to its library of existing and new, original content. Do viewers need or want two more streaming services, two very niche ones at that? And can the market sustain both? 

“The people will decide what will be the best channel for them,” ChaiFlicks founder Neil Friedman, president of distributor Menemsha Films (“The Women’s Balcony,” “Heading Home,” “1945”), told the Journal. He acknowledged that his service is “very niche. If you think of art films as a niche and Jewish-themed art films, it’s a niche within a niche,” he said. “But we’ve been working in this niche since 2008 now, acquiring 15 films a year and our expertise has only grown. This is all I do. Jewish culture is what I do 24/7 and I want to share it with the people who are interested in it, too.”

“We don’t see them as competition,” Emily Lapine, IZZY director of growth, said. “Where we differ from ChaiFlicks, we’re doing something very specific, only content that is filmed in Israel. It’s connected to the land and untold stories that come from many different perspectives. The mission is getting more Israeli content out into the world and highlighting independent filmmakers who haven’t necessarily worked with Netflix or Hulu. The level of content coming from Israel, even student filmmakers, has blown us away.” 

Friedman believes that these pandemic times are suited to his new venture, as theaters are closed and people are at home watching a lot of TV. “It’s a captive audience, and we’ve curated really good movies for them,” he said, adding that his core viewers are “older folks who go to Jewish film festivals, people who are interested in Jewish history and where they came from.”

Poster from “The Women’s Balcony”; Photo courtesy of ChaiFlick.

ChaiFlicks will offer a combination of 30-40 Menemsha catalog films and double that amount of acquisitions and originals, adding three new titles per week. These include “Left Luggage” with Isabella Rossellini, “La Rafle” with Melanie Laurent, the Australian documentary “Man on the Bus” and the comedy series “Soon by You.” 

“Every kind of programming,” Friedman said. “Our mission is to scour the Earth for films of Jewish content from every corner of the universe.”

“The idea is not to put every Jewish film on there, but films of quality, films that are educational, informational and get the wheels turning in the brain.” — Neil Friedman

Among the new offerings is “Bulgarian Rhapsody,” the latest in a trilogy of films from the country; the others will be added later. “The idea is not to put every Jewish film on there, but films of quality, films that are educational, informational and get the wheels turning in the brain,” Friedman said. 

IZZY has been in the works since spring with an original plan to launch this fall. “But with the coronavirus and quarantine, we wanted to give people access to our library of content. We ended up launching early with hundreds of hours of highly vetted licensed content from filmmakers and content creators,” Lapine said, mentioning “a laundry list of award-winning films,” cooking shows, travel shows and live broadcasts. 

Among them: “Dawn,” a drama set in 1947 Palestine based on an Elie Wiesel novel; the documentary “When the Smoke Clears,” in which wounded Israeli war veterans share their stories; the series “Tech Talk” and “Israel Explained,” and the three-part documentary “Iron Dome,” about the development of Israel’s missile defense system, available outside Israel for the first time. “We have about 10 different shows and films in the works, ready to be produced,” Lapine said. “Each Thursday, we’ll add new content, about 10 every weeks.”

Through some partner Jewish and Zionist organizations, IZZY subscriptions are offering 50% off for the first month, “similar to the cost of renting one movie on iTunes, but with access to hundreds of hours of content,” Lapine said. “At a time when people aren’t traveling and don’t have a connection to global stories, especially out of Israel, IZZY is bringing Israel to people’s living rooms.”

Both streaming services are compatible with multiple devices including iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire via their apps and at IZZY and ChaiFlicks.

Two New Streaming Services Offer Exclusively Jewish and Israeli Programming Read More »

Nikki Haley Cites Trump’s Israel Policies in Republican Convention Speech

Leave a Comment / News, United States /

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, highlighted President Donald Trump’s Israel policies to make the case he has advanced a robust foreign policy.

Haley depicted Joe Biden, the former vice president, and President Barack Obama as practicing a foreign policy of “weakness,” including their administration’s dealings with Iran.

“Obama and Biden let Iran get away with murder and literally sent them a plane full of cash,” Haley said. “President Trump did the right thing and ripped up the Iran nuclear deal.

“Obama and Biden led the United Nations to denounce our friend and ally, Israel,” she said, referring to the Obama administration in its final days allowing through a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s West Bank settlements.

Obama administration alumni say they were not involved in initiating the resolution and worked to temper it. The Obama administration did not vote for the resolution but withheld the U.S. veto, allowing it to pass.

“President Trump moved our embassy to Jerusalem – and when the U.N. tried to condemn us, I was proud to cast the American veto,” she said.

Haley, the former South Carolina governor, is seen as a leading contender for the GOP nomination in 2024. Following her stint at the U.N., she has become popular on the centrist and right-wing pro-Israel speaker’s circuit.

Nikki Haley Cites Trump’s Israel Policies in Republican Convention Speech Read More »