Tag: antisemitism

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Opinion/Commentary

The issue with Kanye West is lack of accountability. Until now

American rapper, Kanye West wearing a navy blue cap with 2023 in white block numbers
Tucker Carlson gave soft interview to Ye West

Content warning: antisemitism and mention of the Holocaust

American rapper, Ye West (formerly Kanye) has caused a stir after a number of scandals.

He was seen at Paris Fashion Week with conservative commentator, Candace Owens. They both wore ‘White Lives Matter’ shirts.

Twitter deletes tweet for antisemitism

On Thursday, Twitter deleted one of West’s tweets. His tweet is condemned for antisemitism. West has hit back, claiming he can’t be antisemitic because he’s black.

Candace Owens also defended him on her show. She claimed:

[shows deleted tweet] That was the tweet and people subsequently demanded that the Tweet be taken down for antisemitism. Now, if you are an honest person you did not think this tweet was antisemitic. You did not think that he wrote this tweet because he hates or wants to genocide Jewish people. This is not represent the beginning of the Holocaust.

Candace Owens, Candace Owens Podcast,

Instagram also reacted, restricting West’s account.

In the aftermath, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson gave a relatively soft interview toward West. From the start, he strongly defended West, castong doubt of the antisemitism claims. He also defended the display of the ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt.

Tucker Carlson on Fox News defending Ye West. On the right, a picture shows West and Candice Owens wearingvshirts with 'White Lives Matter' on the back
Fox News’ Tucker Carlson defended Ye West on his show, including denying Ye’s tweet was antisemitic

Is bipolar disorder to blame?

Ok, let me say this from the outset. Mental illness is never an excuse for being abusive, bigoted, etc. Having said that, a number of commentators, including Ana Kasparian fron The Young Turks and Kyle Kulinski from Secular Talk have pointed out West’s bipolar disorder as an explanation to his recent behaviour.

However, London – based forensic psychiatrist, Sohom Das disagrees. While he acknowledged West’s bipolar diagnosis, Das said that his recent behaviour isn’t usually indicative of grandiosity in mania.

According to Verywell Mind, grandiosity (or grandiose ideation) in bipolar is an exaggerated sense of self – importance. In contrast, delusions of grandeur are delusions of superiority with no evidence to back it up.

Latest update: There’s a backlash against Ye West. According Billboard YouTube channel, LeBron James pulled an entire episode of The Shop which featured West. He cited ‘hate speech’ to defend the axing of the episode.

On Tuesday, Missouri Attorney General, Republican, Eric Schmitt caused controversy for posting a tweet supporting West after he wrote the antisemitic tweet.

America needs a @kanyewest @KidRock tour

After an uproar, Schmitt deleted the tweet from his personal account. In his defence, Schmitt said that he liked both Kid Rock and West’s music. However, he was quick to point out that he didn’t always agree with their views.

This comes less than a month before the US Midterm elections.

So, what’s up with Ye West? In my opinion, West is an attention seeker. I also think that he’s got away with so much over the years (i.e. the 2009 VMAs, pretending to kill Pete Davidson in a video, etc). I think he’s pushing the envelope, to see how far he can go.

Luckily, people are waking up. I really think he needs less ‘yes’ men and more accountability.

We need to stand against antisemitism

Animation of Jewish synagogue
Image: Canva

The local council of Bondi, Sydney, has prevented a Jewish synagogue being built due to the threat of Islamic extremism. The Land and Environment Court has agreed with this decision.

This has understandably outraged the Australian Jewish community and non – Jews alike. And it shouldn’t be tolerated. Anti – Semitism needs to be condemned. Period. If the Australian Jewish community are in any danger, the answer is not to punish the Jews by not allowing them to have a house of worship. The answer is to crack down on anti – Semites — that includes some Muslims.

 

We should all know the danger of antisemitism if we have learnt anything about the rise of the Nazis in Germany in the 1930’s and the Holocaust. This is why I feel so strongly against this. Andrew Bolt is right on this. The Bondi Council and the Land and Environment Court are letting Islamic extremists win. It’s also letting antisemites win. Why can’t they be protected? What’s more, why is antisemitism becoming OK… again?

Anyone who threatens the Jewish community, or makes any indication that they shouldn’t be safe needs the book thrown at them. The only fitting punishment for extreme cases, such as threats is jail. For a long time.

It goes beyond that, though. Antisemitism needs to become unacceptable in society, just like racism, sexism and even homophobia are starting to be. If you see any antisemitic speech on social media, I’d say report it. Or, at the least, (if safe to do so), confront the person who’s made the comment. Don’t allow yourself to be antisemitic either.

From what I understand about World War II, the Nazis thrived on antisemitic propaganda that went unchallenged. People in the media who tried to bring to light what was going on were punished. Many Germans didn’t know the horror of the Holocaust until it was too late. This can’t happen again. Good on both Joe Hildebrand and Andrew Bolt for bringing this to light. I offer a plea to all other journalists in Australia, please, please, please call out antisemitism when you find out about it. And good on the caller to 2GB that brought it to Steve Price’s and Andrew Bolt’s attention last night.

\To all the Jews, both in Australia and abroad, I am so sorry what you’re going through. I’m sorry if some of you feel that history is repeating itself again. I sincerely hope it won’t. I think if people like Bolt, Hildebrand,  Herald Sun’s Rita Panahi, or even myself can call it out and demand that we won’t be silenced, then, hopefully, it’s something.