1. It’s not some militant pro-Israel letter. It hits the low bar of condemning Hamas and asking people to tone down their rhetoric.
“We are deeply concerned by the escalating violence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. The loss of life and violence is heartbreaking. We call on the leaders of all parties to end the violence, urge calm, and work toward de-escalation.
We also call on our colleagues and friends in the entertainment community to stop posting misinformation and one-sided narratives that only work to inflame the conflict instead of bringing about peace.
While we may have differing opinions on the conflict, it is never okay for Hamas to publicly call for the killing of civilians, use civilians as human shields, and rain down missiles indiscriminately on civilian populations with no care about who is killed—Arab or Jew.
When lives are at stake, we all bear responsibility to unite rather than divide. Incendiary language only benefits those at the extremes who have no interest in peace. Our thoughts are with all Israelis and Palestinians who are experiencing unfathomable levels of fear and violence, and hope for the day when both peoples can live side by side in peace.”
This is about as middle-of-the-road or ‘pareve’ as you can get. And yet…
2. Almost no American Jewish celebrities have signed it. A number of American Jewish executives signed on, most notably Sherry Lansing, yet virtually no talent. No Spielberg, it goes without saying, Sacha Baron Cohen, who spends all his time ranting about Facebook didn’t sign on.
It’s people like Noa Tishby, an Israeli actress who wrote a book defending Israel, and Elon Gold, an Orthodox Jewish comedian, and David Mazouz, who played Bruce Wayne on Gotham and has an Orthodox Jewish background, who are on board.
Gene Simmons of KISS, who was born in Israel, and who has been long since past caring about cancel culture, signed on.
The only American Jewish actress of any note who signed on is Selma Blair.
In a pattern that ought to be familiar from the protests against the Holocaust, the open letter touts signatories who, like Michael Buble and Meghan McCain, are not Jewish.
That raises the question of to what extent it’s cancel culture at work here with celebrities avoiding any kind of pro-Israel statement, even one as mild as this, and to what extent it’s the self-hating and self-abasing nature of too many secular American Jews.
Kuffar says
Craven cowards! They value their status and position more than standing with the righteous… I wish that they all go to Hell.
Jill says
As a Jewish person, I certainly do not think that letter was pro-Israel. It’s way past time that liberal Jews and the world recognize that Islamic supremacist around the entire world ALWAYS has problems with Islam. Israel is just tiny AND these terrorists try to claim that Israel is theirs! I want to know why Lebanon- A Christian nation that became one because they were being murdered by Islam has been illegally occupied by Islam and must now down to them.. I also want to know why a huge part of Israel was given to Jordan- 80% of Israel’s land that the King said would be Palestinian land! None of the victim countries ever discusses the absolute problem. All of Europe, Australia, US, India and so many more must face the problems with Islam.
RichardL says
we live in a very Jewish neighborhood in a very Jewish city. All our Jewish neighbors are Democrats. They don’t know that Trump stopped the payment for the killers and families of killers. We talked to our best friends here about it and they were shocked… and then voted for Joe. The reform Jews here love islam more than Israel. Only the conservative Jews care, but they voted for DJT anyway.
Andra says
It is the same in Germany. The Jewish Council is all left and claims that the danger for Jews in Germany comes from the Right, not from the Muslims, alhough 80% of Jews in a poll claimed that they have already been attacked by Muslims.
Only the conservative Jews in Germany state that Islam is the problem, wether in Israel or Germany.
Infidel says
Jill
Years ago, I quickly became familiar w/ the convention that in the US, the only Christians are those who are explicitly practicing Christians, and it excludes atheists and agnostics. I dunno about Israel, but it isn’t the convention in other places in the world, such as India. There, a Hindu is simply someone who’s born to a Hindu family, and remains that unless and until s/he formally converts to another religion. Which is what makes it tough to analyze support trends among them
I’m normally not a fan of globalism: every country has a right to its own conventions. However, in this case, I have strongly come to the conclusion that atheists and agnostics should be segregated and counted and analyzed separately from the religions they sprung out of. Once that is done, then it’s easier to analyze political landscapes, voting and support trends and so on. Also, once that is recognized, one would realize that secular atheists tend more often to lean left than right, even though there may be enough Ayn Rand followers. And then the questions emerge:
– Is it even worth enlightening them on the fact that if and when they come to power in alliance w/ islam, they’ll have to fend off an islamic threat? And if the islamic faction actually wins, they’ll be suppressed like the Tudehs in Iran
– If yes, how to do it
If you recall, in the early years of JihadWatch, RS, Hugh and Rebecca used to make it plain that they’d like an alliance against Jihad irrespective of political opinion on other things. However, after the Obama years, when the Left found themselves solidly wedded to islam despite islam cracking down on traditional vote blocs of the Left – feminists, LGBTQ rights people, minority rights, animal rights and so on, RS concluded that there was no option but to ally w/ that faction of the Right that recognized islam for what it is
James Lincoln says
Thanks for the Jihad Watch history, Iinfidel.
gravenimage says
+1
somehistory says
It’s because what matters is in the ****heart***** of a person. If the person is selfish, greedy, bordering on evil, or evil personified, they won’t care about who might be in the wrong, who might be right, and they won’t put themselves in the middle by stating the obvious.
Those people who are willing to state the simple Truth, have something in their hearts that the evil, selfish, greedy, etc., don’t have.
Jesus put it plainly: “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
jewdog says
Sasha Cohen’s Borat focused on exposing racism and prejudice, often against Muslims, so it may be that he sees the jihad against Israel as a problem of racism rather than of militant Islamic ideology. My guess is that this very inaccurate view is quite common among Jews who project their own experiences and biases onto situations where they are irrelevant. It’s the Jewish Mirror Image Fallacy.
Infidel says
That’s funny, given how Borat seemed dedicated to mocking Kazakhstan – a slightly muslim majority country
gravenimage says
Almost No Jewish American Actors Sign Statement Against Hamas
…………..
Very disturbing. It used to be that even those who thought the “Palestinian Authority” (Fatah) was a partner for peace at least recognized that Hamas was terrorist. No longer, it seems…
James Lincoln says
Yes, gravenimage.
The current crop of Leftists make no distinction between the so called “Palestinian Authority” and Hamas.
Hamas is just seen as the “military arm” of the P.A.
Beyond disturbing…