Another aspect of the media misconduct that has paved the way for the present war is the mainstream acceptance of antisemities, as Gil Hoffman noted in the Jerusalem Post in late September: “Foreign media outlets must repent for anti-Israel coverage – opinion,” by Gil Hoffman, Jerusalem Post, September 23, 2023:
Many mainstream media outlets have been all too forgiving of blatant antisemitism over the past year.
The Times of London gave rave reviews to concerts by Roger Waters in which he donned a Nazi-style uniform and compared Holocaust victim Anne Frank to Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was accidentally killed while covering an Israeli arrest raid in Jenin. Comparing Israel to Nazi Germany is a clear breach of the internationally recognized IHRA definition of Jew-hatred.
Did it never occur to The Times that as an obsessive antisemite, Roger Waters, does not deserve to have his concerts reviewed, much less praised? Whatever his music may be like, his SS uniform, his blown-up photos meant to suggest a similarity between the accidental killing of Shireen Abu Akleh by an Israeli soldier and the deliberate murder by the Nazis of 14-year-old Anne Frank in Bergen-Belsen, and his grotesque inflatable pig with the Star of David affixed to it, ought to be enough to disqualify him from coverage that will only increase his appeal and his revenue stream. There are many musicians who never receive reviews in The Times. Why not give those unsung talents the attention now being lavished, quite deplorably, on the deeply antisemitic Roger Waters?
On the battleground of social media, there were plenty of antisemitic posts by international celebrities over the past year, some about Israel and some just antisemitic. An important lesson is that when celebrities post against the Jewish state, it needs to be condemned immediately because if not, the tweets against the Jewish people will follow.
Think of Kanye West on Twitter, letting loose with his antisemitic remarks that promptly led the German sneaker company Adidas to end their business relationship with West, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars Adidas stood to lose. Kanye West has accused Jews of controlling the music industry, Hollywood, the media, politics and business, and denounced Jewish “greed,” while pushing the notion that Jewish people exploit and intimidate others for financial gain. He has praised Hitler and engaged in Holocaust denial. He offered a half-hearted kinda sorta confused and unconvincing apology. But is Ye ready to truly “atone” for his vicious remarks? Of course not.
A prime example of a celebrity who was not condemned for his original post but only after a subsequent tweet is basketball star Kyrie Irving, who came under fire and was even suspended from his team last November after he tweeted a link to an antisemitic film. But he faced no criticism during the May 2021 war between Israel and Hamas, when Irving’s public statements and posts straddled the line between legitimate and illegitimate criticism of Israel.
Perhaps those who let Irving’s unhinged criticism of Israel in May 2021 pass unremarked would like to atone now for that initial lapse, that led Irving to believe he could get away with posting for his many followers a link to an antisemitic film. And what about Irving himself? Would he like to atone for posting that link, or for any of the other antisemitic statements he has made in the past?
Not every sin is done on purpose, of course, but those require repentance as well.
On the first night of Hannukah, The New York Times printed a crossword puzzle that was shaped like a swastika.
It was apparently an accident, but America’s newspaper of record should have apologized for publishing a puzzle that clearly wasn’t fit to print.
For the Media’s Day of Atonement, many offenders — the BBC, The Times of London, Anjana Gadgil, Kanye West, Kyrie Irving, the 304 Palestinian and Arab journalists who deplored the firing of journalists who praised Hitler, and so many more in the international media who have maligned Israel in the past year — should take the occasion and do as Christiane Amanpour did, in responding to the criticism of her use of the word “shootout” to describe the terrorist murders of Lucy Dee and two of her daughters. The media should “atone” for using the tendentious phrase “occupied West Bank” instead of the much more venerable “Judea and Samaria” that had been in continuous use for more than 2000 years. Anjana Gadgil should apologize for her remark on the BBC that “Israeli forces are happy to kill children” and the BBC should apologize for having kept her on staff after Gadgil made that remark. So much for so many to atone for.
And now that the war that they helped bring about is ranging, from now until the end of this year, let’s see who properly apologized for maligning Israel — a condition precedent to true “atonement” — and who continued to remain silent.
Eva says
They may apologise, but they’ll never mean it.
Isabella van der westhuizen says
I now wonder about all those themes of loss in The Wall. Waters father died at the Anzio. The whole theme of the Wall is Rogers sense of loss of a father. He blames the high command for this. He feels his father’s sacrifice is pointless. He is resentful of old King George and the entire high command. I now see this is a new light. Most people form the Anglo sphere who had family members who made the ultimate sacrifice in WWII feel a sense of pride which provides meaning to their sense of loss. Waters only has resentment. Why is this ? I wonder if he feels that his father died because of Jewish money etc? Maybe if his father had died fighting for the SS he would not feel this sense of loss. Knowing what I now do about him I really wonder.
libertyORdeath says
You would at least think that Jewish groups like the ADL would start to realize what is the actual threat to the Jewish people. It’s been broadcast on Western TV and media for over 2 decades.
If this doesn’t wake people up, I don’t know what will. Unfortunately, I said the same thing about the open borders and the climate alarmists sabotaging our energy and food supplies.
This is why REAL free speech is so important. There should have been a massive pushback against this creeping antisemitism and islamism in the mainstream media, but unfortunately, every international mainstream outlet save for Fox News, has been on the side of the terrorists for at least a decade.
How can a country that experienced an event like 9/11 be so ignorant? Maybe its all the foreigners that they call “Americans”?
Hudders. says
An excellent most timely article by Hugh.
The media is a minefield in today’s literary war of information jihad vs the objective truth.
Take the BBC for example.
They are an obviously institutionally anti-semetic & extremely pro islamic,
morally moribund mouthpiece of divisiveness & semantically sugar coated hatred.
Just a few minutes checking BBC Arabic is enough to make the stomach churn for example.
Plus the recent refusal to openly state hamas as a terrorist group, instead again playing word games,
reveals the black heart of those who steer it’s satanic sinking ship.
All across Europe, the recent sharp increase in muslim attacks & anti-semetic activity is scarecly given coverage, in 99% of the MSM.
Or if covered, the facts are as far from the truth as possible.
That’s why our voices & words are so important at this juncture.
We have to do as much as we can legally, to wake the world up to the horrible truth about diversity, islam & anti-semitism.
Because the mainstream media are most certainly not going to.
VictorMc says
It serves you right. Many many years ago when so-called social media began I just knew the bosses of these companies were criminals and have NEVER signed into one of them ever.
Do you know something, since then it has got worse and worse and you who subscribe to these criminal sites are still at it. Who is stupid now?
bagsgroove says
Hudders says “We have to do as much as we can legally…” But what if the legislators are part of the problem in passing laws that are not legal and the enemy does not obey anyone but a devil god ? They don’t care if what they do is legal or not,or even ethical.