Recent tirades by Kanye West, now known as Ye, were undoubtedly on the minds of many of the record-shattering 500 guests who gathered at the spacious Beverly Hills home of Columbia Records A&R executive Ben Maddahi’s parents to mark the tenth anniversary of the Creative Community for Peace. The organization, co-founded by Electronic Arts President of Music Steve Schnur and veteran publishing executive David Renzer, honored an eclectic group as Ambassadors of Peace for 2022: comic legend Eugene Levy, “Sex and the City” creator Darren Star, Grammy-winning performer/songwriter Autumn Rowe, Billie Eilish managers Brandon Goodman and Danny Rukasin of Best Friends Music and UTA global co-head of music David Zedeck.
The fourth live event organized by the nonprofit — meant to encourage artists to collaborate and bring their talents to Israel as well as combat antisemitism — brought out a who’s who of entertainment executives and creatives, including past honorees Diane Warren, Warner Records CEO/co-chairman Aaron Bay-Schuck, Virgin Music label and artist services president Jacqueline Saturn and Atlantic Records Group’s EVP of global A&R Aton Ben-Horin.
Warren, an outspoken supporter of Israel who was honored at last year’s ceremony, had some choice expletives to describe her reaction to West’s hateful words. “Antisemitism is always just below the surface and now it’s reared its ugly head again,” she said. “Nobody should have anything to do with him. It’s like someone said, he just remixed an old record that’s been around 3,000 years like it’s a new thought. The Holocaust started with words like that.”
Co-founder Schnur, who recently penned his own Variety editorial calling the entertainment industry to task for their initial silence on the Ye incident, evoked the Jewish Hanukkah warrior Judah Maccabee to express his continued outrage. “Enough with this rhetoric that spreads like wildfire,” said the veteran music executive. “He’s one of many continuing to spew using platforms. My response is, hell no. I don’t want to hear it anymore. We need to stand up for not just the Jewish community, but the Black community, Muslims, Asians and the LGBTQ as well. The idea is that art is something that can bring people together. The only thing a Palestinian and Israeli kid might have in common is Rihanna’s music.”
Added Renzer, who noted that the following day (October 27) would be the fourth anniversary of the 11 Jews murdered at the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh: “Our message is one of unity, co-existence, anti-hate. Maybe it took something as dramatic and unfortunate as [Ye’s remarks] for it to happen,” adding this was a “record-setting year for the organization in terms of attendance, sponsorship and donations.”
Comic legend Eugene Levy attributed his honor to the award-winning sitcom “Schitt’s Creek,” which he co-created with son Dan as a way to present an ideal community “blind to religion, sex or nationality, a world without bigotry,” joking about the misspelling of his name (Eugege) on the video display in back of him. He then told of running for class president in his senior year of high school and having his Superman-inspired campaign posters (“It’s a bird, it’s a plane… it’s Levy’) defaced with “Jew,” and winning the election by refusing to back down, or remove the posters.
UTA’s Zedeck defended fellow talent agency CAA’s decision to drop Ye as a client. “We have to be responsible for whom we represent,” he said. “Freedom of speech may be a legal issue, but not being associated with Ye is a business decision. It’s important to keep music and art separate from politics. This organization has a larger role than just combatting the BDS movement (boycott, divestment sanctions against Israel).”
Interscope vice chairman Steve Berman introduced Best Friends Music’s Brandon Goodman and Danny Rukasin, serenading the latter with “Happy Birthday.” Speaking to Variety, Goodman said, “My belief is that art should unite, not divide. Our job is to let our artists speak for themselves through their own experiences.” Darren Star, called to the stage by “Uncoupled” star Joshua Platt, recalled teaching a film and TV writing class at the University of Tel Aviv, “where even the bouncers wish you a ‘Shabbat shalom.’”
“Only by understanding each other can we make the world a better place,” Star said on the red carpet before the presentation. “Storytelling can transcend politics, creating characters where you can understand their humanity is so important. Art can make all of us understand our common humanity better… It helps build bridges.”
Autumn Rowe, who earned a Grammy for co-writing four songs on Jon Batiste’s album of the year-winning “We Are” — including “Freedom,” which she later performed to wrap the evening — is perhaps the perfect representative for both the CCFP and its sister organization, the Black Jewish Entertainment Alliance. The South-Bronx born singer-songwriter is the daughter of a Black father and Jewish mother, and an activist who has been involved in anti-racism, women’s and creative rights organizations such as Grammys on the Hill, the Women’s March on DC and SONA (Songwriters of North America).
“There are a lot of similarities between Blacks and Jews,” she said, comparing slavery with the Holocaust. “We both have bonds of oppression.” Her involvement with the CCFP and the BJEA came about during a time of introspection while in COVID lockdown. “It was a big moment for me to pause and reflect on who I wanted to be,” she explained. “Which was someone who spoke up for people whose voices weren’t being heard. These organizations helped me do that.”
Asked about West’s comment, her response was swift: she removed all his music from her Serato DJ software. “I felt really hurt by those comments,” said Rowe. “He has inspired me as a producer, songwriter and artist. I’ve been a fan for a long time, but I don’t feel like playing music from someone who wants to go ‘def con 3’ on the Jews. I’m over him.”
CCFP Director Ari Ingel offered his own closing argument against the notion of an “irreconcilable” co-existence of Israel and Palestine which has been in place since the country’s very inception in 1948, suggesting a three-prong answer for those present: taking a trip to Israel, encouraging artists to perform there and supporting the organization in its future goals.
“The objective is peace,” added Schnur. “Not to divide.”
On Saturday October 8, the artist Ye, formerly Kanye West, declared to his 18 million Instagram followers that he was “going death con 3 on Jewish people,” adding that Jews “have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
In the days that followed, I wrote a piece for the 10/14 edition of “The Jerusalem Post” expressing my own experiences with growing antisemitism in the U.S. and abroad. “This isn’t a matter of my Jewish faith,” I wrote. “It’s a fundamental breakdown of our shared humanity.” And though my statement was supported by many friends and colleagues throughout the industry, I also encountered several disconcerting instances of trepidation. The outright silence of others spoke volumes.
Ken Burns’ recent documentary “The U.S. and the Holocaust” bluntly illustrates how the U.S. was initially unwilling to intervene in the Holocaust, even as evidence of its horrors publicly unfolded. Most of all, it reminds us that complacency is akin to complicity.
We’re now seeing our nation get more virulent and divisive by the day. We hear hate speech shared by public figures on global platforms. History can — and often does — repeat. But next time, will we allow inaction to prevail? As a descendant of refugees, many of whom died in the Holocaust, I will not tolerate antisemitism, racism, ignorance or hate from individuals or institutions, celebrities or politicians, friends, colleagues, or strangers. Neither should you.
On Saturday October 15, Ye appeared on Revolt TV’s “Drink Champs” to defiantly double-down. Not only did he endorse falsehoods about Jewish control of the media, but he went on to dismiss the indisputable — and adjudicated — facts of George Floyd’s murder.
I don’t buy the argument that Ye’s mental illness allows for public displays of malignant stupidity, and I don’t believe the platforms he’s been given should be exempt from responsibility either. My anger has only intensified in the days since, as have my questions: why have Ye’s music business partners — record labels, publishers, touring agencies, merch companies, etc. — remained silent? Is his brand so valuable that it overshadows his messaging? Is his fame so important that it’s worth the eventual price we may all pay? I will not stay silent, allow Ye’s message to dissipate over time, or wait until he says something even more destructive in the future. Neither should you.
And yet the problem is not simply Ye. He may be the most current public figure spewing antisemitism and racism, but is certainly not alone; from Sunday morning preachers and white nationalists to college campuses, city councils, and even members of Congress, ignorance and hate are gaining traction daily. If recent statements by Tommy Tuberville, Nury Martinez or Donald Trump haven’t shocked you, then what will it take? If you’re not getting angry or frightened, you’re not paying attention.
The creative community has a greater responsibility than most. Our voice — particularly among young people — is pervasive. Our influence is global. Which is why our time to act is now. We must speak up, no matter what the cost. And we must encourage our friends, families, colleagues and leaders to do the same.
Let me be perfectly clear, this is not about ‘cancel culture,’ ‘wokeness’ or any other buzzword used to denigrate empathy and undermine compassion. This is about stopping racism, bigotry, misogyny, homophobia and antisemitism in its tracks before it repeats itself to a degree we pray it never reaches again. We cannot idly stand by in fear, silence, or indifference. We must not allow the horrors of the past to infect our future.
The choices we collectively make over the next few months will matter for years to come. Through it all, I will march with you; I will scream with you; I will stand with you. And for the sake of our industry, our integrity, and our very survival as intelligent and rational beings, I am humbly asking you to do the same.
Cover Photo: Kanye West attends the in-store signing of his new release ‘Graduation’ held at the Virgin Megastore Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood, California, United States on September 13, 2007.
United Talent Agency’s global co-head of music David Zedeck and music managers Brandon Goodman and Danny Rukasin are among the honorees at the fourth annual Ambassadors of Peace (AOP) event on Oct. 26 in Beverly Hills. The outdoor event is sponsored by the non-profit, Creative Community for Peace (CCFP).
Other honorees include Autumn Rowe, who won a Grammy in April as a featured artist, songwriter and producer on Jon Batiste’s album of the year winner, We Are; four-time Emmy winner Eugene Levy (Schitt’s Creek and SCTV Network); and Emmy winner Darren Star (Sex and the City).
“Creative Community for Peace was founded by entertainment industry professionals passionate about the artistic community’s unique ability to act as a unifying force for tolerance and peace,” CCFP co-founder David Renzer and director Ari Ingel said in a statement. “CCFP believes strongly in artists’ ability to affect lives and affect positive change around the world. The 2022 AOP honorees exemplify the spirit of our mission – to build bridges and advocate for peace through the arts.”
Goodman and Rukasin co-founded Best Friends Music, a Los Angeles-based music management company, in 2018. They co-manage Grammy- and Academy Award winners Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, as well as mixing engineer Rob Kinelski, who has won five Grammys for his work with Eilish, and Bishop Briggs. They also have separate management clients. Goodman and Rukasin executive produced Apple TV’s Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry and Eilish’s Disney+ concert film Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles.
Zedeck previously served as Live Nation Entertainment’s executive vp and president of global talent and artist development.
In addition to Batiste, Rowe has collaborated with such artists as Dua Lipa, Pitbull, Zendaya, Ava Max, Leona Lewis, Tori Kelly and Kali Uchis. In a statement, Rowe said: “In today’s world, the arts can act as a panacea to division and fear. Through my work, I’ve prioritized using my platform to fight against racism and antisemitism. I’m honored to be recognized by CCFP, an organization who embodies my same commitment to use the arts as a conduit for peace and connection.”
Previous AOP honorees include Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr.; Grammy-winning songwriter and 14-time Oscar nominee Diane Warren; reggae great and eight-time Grammy winner Ziggy Marley; music manager Scooter Braun; and Warner Records CEO/co-chairman Aaron Bay-Schuck.
Tickets range from $250 for a general ticket to $100,000 for a 10-ticket sponsorship package. More information can be found on the event’s website.
The Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), an apolitical organization made up of prominent members of the entertainment industry dedicated to promoting the arts as a means to peace in the Middle East, will hold its fourth annual “Ambassadors Of Peace” (AOP) event on Oct. 26 in Beverly Hills. (Variety is a media sponsor of the event.)
Songwriter Autumn Rowe, David Zedeck, global co-head of music at UTA, and Brandon Goodman and Danny Rukasin, managers of Billie Eilish and Finneas, round out the award recipients.
Levy said “Artistic expression has the power to unite people across different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences — throughout my career, I’ve shared my love of humor with audiences around the world, bringing people together in the process. CCFP has been a dedicated and consistent advocate for peace and understanding around the world, and I’m incredibly honored and humbled to be named one of their Ambassadors of Peace this year.”
Said Star: “Throughout my career, I’ve witnessed the profound power of the arts. It transcends boundaries, pushes barriers, and moves the collective zeitgeist forward. When audiences watch one of my shows, I hope their shared experience allows for divides to dissipate and disappear, and for their minds to be opened. CCFP deeply understands the vital role the arts play in today’s world to bring people together, and I’m grateful for their recognition as an Ambassador of Peace.”
“In today’s world, the arts can act as a panacea to division and fear,” said Rowe. “Through my work, I’ve prioritized using my platform to fight against racism and antisemitism.”
The honorees are chosen for their commitment to championing artistic freedom and advancing the idea that music and the arts are powerful forces for building cultural bridges.
The Creative Community for Peace was founded by entertainment industry professionals passionate about the artistic community’s unique ability to act as a unifying force for tolerance and peace.
The organization’s co-founder David Renzer and director Ari Ingel said, “CCFP believes strongly in artists’ ability to affect lives and effect positive change around the world. The 2022 AOP honorees exemplify the spirit of our mission — to build bridges and advocate for peace through the arts.”
It documents hundreds of examples of anti-Semitism in the past 18 months involving film and television studios, celebrities, musicians, influencers, sports figures and social-media platforms.
In a report on anti-Semitism in entertainment and sports, as well as on digital-media platforms, Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) calls the extent of the anti-Semitism problem “glaring.”
The 20-page report, “Fomenting Hate: How the Entertainment and Sports Industries Can Address the Growing Threat of Antisemitism,” documents hundreds of examples of incidents over the past year-and-a-half involving film and television studios, celebrities, influencers, sports figures and social-media platforms.
CCFP, an organization comprised of entertainment industry professionals dedicated to combating anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, published the report earlier this month.
The report defines the issue using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism.
A certain perception of Jews expressed as hatred towards Jews, the targeting of Israel with Israel conceived as a “Jewish collectivity” and Holocaust denial are considered anti-Semitic, according to the definition.
In a section focused on film and television, the CCFP report says the HBO series “Lovecraft County,” featuring an antagonist named Epstein that conducts scientific experiments on black children and adults, has “overt anti-Semitic tropes.”
HBO’s portrayal, CCFP says, amounts to “anti-Semitic blood-libel-esque themes.”
Addressing anti-Semitism in the sports industry, the report describes when prominent NFL player DeSean Jackson posted a quote in 2020 on his Instagram, falsely attributed to Adolf Hitler. The quote claimed Jews “blackmail” and “extort” America.
CCFP also highlighted the frequent anti-Semitic slurs directed at fans of Amsterdam soccer club AFC Ajax. The team has long been associated with the Jewish community, and those rooting for opposing teams have used statements including, “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas,” according to the report.
Fans of Italy’s SS Lazio football club caught on camera performing a fascist salute. Source: Screenshot.
‘Furthering tropes that Jews are all wealthy’
In a discussion about music, CCFP doesn’t only document the widely known anti-Zionism of founding Pink Floyd member Roger Waters, whose concerts have featured animated scenes of Israel dropping bombs in the shapes of Stars of David and dollar signs. CCFP also notes the prevalence of anti-Semitic hip-hop lyrics.
The report also found that Rappers, including Jay Electronica, Mos Def and Freeze Corleone, are perpetuating stereotypes and conspiracies about Jews controlling the media. Corleone, a French recording artist, has released blatantly anti-Semitic lyrics, including about Holocaust denial.
Ari Ingel, director of CCFP, previously worked as a music manager and attorney. In a phone interview, he said hip-hop lyrics often feature philosemitism, a notable admiration for the Jewish people.
“I don’t think when Jay Z [raps about earning wealth like Jews], he means it as a negative,” said Ingel. “He means it as aspirational. But when he and other rappers don’t realize, it is furthering tropes that Jews are all wealthy, and that’s obviously not the case.”
CCFP documents anti-Semitism in the digital community, including on TikTok, Spotify, YouTube, Soundcloud and Clubhouse, among other platforms. The report omits anti-Semitism on larger social-media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter. CCFP did not have the bandwidth for reporting on the larger platforms, Ingel told JNS.org.
On TikTok, “Jewish teens say they are bombarded daily with spam and death threats in the comments,” the report says.
On Spotify, problematic podcasts from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan are posted, along with songs by musical artists with clearly anti-Semitic lyrics, including National Socialists Black Metal Bands.
And on Clubhouse, a newer app, “the conversations are live and monitoring spoken language is difficult in real-time,” according to the report. The names of audio-only chat rooms on Clubhouse have included “White Jews have more power than blacks in America,” “The Jews & Asians vs Black Reparation is the REAL BATLE” and “Were 6 million Jews really killed (serious topic).”
The report offers practical reforms for companies and corporations, from adding an expert on antisemitism to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) teams to holding mandatory annual training sessions on anti-Semitism for human-resources departments.
CCFP recommends that entertainment companies, sports leagues and digital services adopt the IHRA definition. This way, executives can identify when statements, events, content or actions cross the line into anti-Semitism.
Media organizations also ought to adopt the “Tevye Test,” which is inspired by writer Ben Freeman’s work, says CCFP.
Like the “Bechdel Test,” measuring the representation of women in a film,” the Tevye Test—named after the lead character in “Fiddler on the Roof”—offers a way of gauging the representation of Jews in media.
While many groups monitor anti-Semitism, too few look closely at the two industries responsible for shaping public opinion: entertainment and sports, says CCFP.
And while Ingel is not expecting change overnight, the report offers a first step towards transformation and creating accountability in industries in need of it.
“This isn’t going to be the end all be all; it’s a start,” he said. “It will take many years to get these things adopted. It’s a process.”
Amid rising antisemitism and delegitimisation of Israel, international organisation Creative Community For Peace is working hard to redress the balance within the entertainment industry.
When anti-Israel activists targeted this year’s Sydney Festival due to the Israeli embassy’s $20,000 sponsorship of a world-renowned Israeli dance performance, Jewish communal groups sprang into action, appearing in media, penning op-eds and combating the tirade of misinformation on social media.
Among the voices calling for reason were the international signatories of an open letter – headlined by Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, no less – rejecting the boycott and calling it “an affront to both Palestinians and Israelis who are working to advance peace” and extolling the power of arts and culture as a means to unify and bring people together.
That open letter was written by Creative Community For Peace (CCFP), a non-profit entertainment industry organisation comprised of celebrities and entertainment industry professionals working to “promote the arts as a bridge to peace, to educate about rising antisemitism within the entertainment industry, and to galvanise support against the cultural boycott of Israel”.
Last year, the group released an open letter in support of the Tel Aviv LGBT Film Festival, supported by actors Helen Mirren, Mila Kunis and Neil Patrick Harris. Two years earlier it shared a statement supporting Israel hosting the Eurovision Song Contest.
But open letters are just one prong of CCFP’s advocacy; the organisation also works behind the scenes to educate people in the arts about the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, provides practical advice to performers wanting to tour in Israel and combats antisemitism within the entertainment industry.
“The industry is really insular, and people don’t really trust anybody that they don’t know,” CCFP CEO Ari Ingel told The AJN from Los Angeles.
“So the traditional Jewish organisations can reach out to entertainers, but they’re usually never going to hear back. We are made up of people in the entertainment community … we are able to get them on the phone or exchange emails, and can have open conversations about topics that maybe they couldn’t have with other organisations.”
CCFP was founded in 2012 by the former chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing, David Renzer, and the worldwide executive and music president of Electronic Arts, Steve Schnur.
“They were in Israel, and they realised that any time an artist booked to play a show there, they were bombarded with boycott calls,” Ingel said.
“The traditional Jewish organisations can reach out to entertainers, but they’re usually never going to hear back. We are made up of people in the entertainment community … we are able to get them on the phone.”
“The other thing they noticed, they were at a show. There were people there from all different backgrounds – Arabs, Jews, Muslims, Christians, black, white.
“And they realised this is ridiculous. The one thing that unites everybody is music, culture and arts. And it makes no sense to shut that down.”
A decade later, he said, the organisation now has over 100 high-level members in the entertainment industry – CEOs and chairs of major motion picture studios and major label record studios, and people in film, TV, sports, music – “so that really is where we derive a lot of our strength”.
“Since we started, we have kept the cancellation rate [for shows in Israel] usually to under five per cent,” he said.
When artists are planning to play Israel, CCFP facilitates conversations with local promoters to talk about everything from “literally the nuts and bolts of booking there, the different venues, to some of the boycott pressure they may face and also what they can do on the ground to work with coexistence organisations to make a bigger impact,” Ingel said.
He said unfortunately, a lot of more prominent artists “get attacked anytime anybody says something positive about Israel”.
He gave the example of singer Billie Eilish, who made a short video for social media – one of a number, each for a different country – saying, “Hi Israel … I’m so excited that my new album is out now.”
“The boycott movement attacked her viciously for that, and for two weeks, she wasn’t even posting about Israel [but] they just flooded [her feed] with thousands of comments like ‘you support apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide’, all these crazy claims just to silence her from ever posting about Israel again, and trying to scare her from ever performing in Israel,” Ingel said.
“We actually did a deep dive into those posts, and we put out a report that exposed that and it showed the vast majority of these posts were just done by bots, trolls and fake accounts.
“So helping to expose that sort of stuff is important.”
CCFP also works in Israel with organisations that bring Palestinians and Jews together. Ingel said the signing of the Abraham Accords “presents a great opportunity” to further that coexistence work and expand into the broader Middle East.
“We see the Arab world really starting to engage with Israel and realising that they have much more in common that brings them together than divides them,” he said.
“Obviously, the Palestinian issue is not going away. And it’s something that I think all parties realise there needs to be movement on, but maybe that engagement from the Arab world can help jumpstart that as well.”
With the mainstream media ignoring a lot of the positive stories about Israelis and Palestinians working together, he said social media is key to trying to get these messages out to the world.
“There can never be a focus on these coexistence organisations because it takes away from the narrative that you know, Israel is this occupying force and Israel is the aggressor,” he lamented.
“I think the game changer is social media, which is a benefit and a curse.”
On the antisemitism side, the organisation works with digital streaming and social media platforms to monitor their sites for antisemitic content.
“We almost have a weekly or bi-weekly engagement with them, and we have been able to [remove] thousands of pieces of content,” Ingel said.
“There’s a lot of philo-antisemitism where artists will make [comments like] ‘I want to be as rich as my Jewish lawyer’ or ‘I gotta get a Jewish lawyer’, ‘I want to get the Jewish money’,” he explained.
In 2020, American football wide receiver DeSean Jackson made headlines for the wrong reasons when he posted antisemitic content on his Instagram account.
“It was him parroting some Louis Farrakhan talking lines about the Jews running the slave trade … I talked to DeSean personally, and he didn’t really know much about antisemitism,” Ingel said. “He grew up in South Central [LA], he didn’t meet many Jews and they never studied the Holocaust. But they do know about the Nation of Islam, because the Nation of Islam provided social services in the inner city.
“So that’s the sort of thing we do behind the scenes, all about open dialogue and bringing people in, as opposed to pushing them away.”
To further increase understanding between Blacks and Jews in America, Ingel was involved in the formation of the Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance.
Meanwhile, CCFP will soon be releasing a first-of-its-kind report into antisemitism in the entertainment industry and American sport.
Ingel said the report has four recommendations, the first being the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism.
“We truly believe that music studios, movie studios, entertainment companies should adopt IHRA as a guide,” he said.
“On the diversity and inclusion teams, they don’t usually have anybody that understands antisemitism or anybody that’s Jewish, so we recommend either adding someone to that team that is Jewish and understands antisemitism, or an annual training seminar for them about antisemitism,” he continued.
“And then especially in film and TV, there’s a test that was developed by [Jewish author] Ben M Freeman called the Tevye test, which really is almost like a step-by-step guide that filmmakers and producers can look at to say, ‘Is my portrayal antisemitic? Am I pushing further antisemitic tropes? Is this something that I should be aware of?’”
Warner Music Group president (Australasia) Dan Rosen is on the CCFP’s global advisory board.
He said that when activists targeted the Sydney Festival, “I think unfortunately, we were probably as a community caught a little bit short, caught unawares and a little unprepared for how organised BDS was here and how far they’d infiltrated into the arts community.”
Rosen said he immediately reached out to Ingel “to see what we could learn from international experience, and also bring some international networks to bear on the issue”.
“Once I started speaking to some of the artists being approached by BDS, I realised that a lot of them were being really bullied,” he said.
“The one thing that unites everybody is music, culture and arts. And it makes no sense to shut that down.”
“There were certainly some artists that probably believe in the cause, [but] I think for a lot of them, it all became a little bit too hard, and the social media avalanche that they were receiving made it just an easier option to side with BDS.
“From spending a lot of hours behind the scenes I was able to get some of them to stand up to the bullies and get some of them to push back.”
He said it was “probably most troubling” to see Indigenous Australians and Indigenous artists side with the movement “on the basis that the Palestinians are indigenous to the land of Israel – it’s just so incorrect historically and factually, but it is gathering hold”.
“We do need to continue to build that relationship with Indigenous Australians, for them to understand the Jewish connection to the land of Israel,” he said.
“And also the connection that the Jewish community has had with Indigenous communities here, we need to re-engage and retell that story with Indigenous Australia.”
More generally, he said people in the arts, as well as younger people, “have always traditionally leant more on the left side of politics. And I think young people as well are more on that side.
“So I think the whole intersectionality and identity politics of the left where the BDS movement have cleverly aligned themselves – with not always being truly honest about what their goals and aims are – is challenging,” he said.
“We need to counter that narrative and start explaining where the myths are with BDS, why certain disenfranchised groups shouldn’t be aligning themselves with the BDS which calls for the destruction of a democratic state.
“There’s so many things that Israel stands for that these people on the left also stand for. That narrative is not being told. And I think we need to get more and more people over to Israel to see for themselves.”
He agreed that music is a unifying force.
“It’s a universal language,” he said.
“Bringing together Arab and Israeli artists, bringing together Muslim, Jewish and Indigenous artists here in Australia, showing that we have more in common – we should be preaching harmony, togetherness, inclusiveness.
“We need to be talking about what brings us together, not what drives us apart. Music is a key unifier in that.”
“That is beautiful! To me that is love—when people are exchanging culture and taking a piece of this wonderful culture and saying a word that means ‘Celebration!’”
It’s hardly just another international tour stop when entertainers perform in Israel. But on the second night of Hanukkah in 2021, pop group Black Eyed Peas performed a sold-out show in Jerusalem at the Pais Arena. Right before singing their final song of the evening, front man Will.i.am told a story about the time the band sang their hit song “I Gotta Feeling” at their only show in Saudi Arabia in 2018.
“We sang the song, [and] 80,000 people, 80,000 Muslims sang, ‘Fill up my cup! Mazel tov!’” he said.
The Hebrew lyric appears in the first verse of the song. The packed crowd in Jerusalem cheered when they heard the story.
“ARTS HAVE THE ABILITY TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER IN THE SHARED LOVE OF CULTURE.”
Will.i.am continued, “That is beautiful! To me that is love—when people are exchanging culture and taking a piece of this wonderful culture and saying a word that means ‘Celebration!’”
That Black Eyed Peas experience is an ideal scenario, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
Steve Schnur and “Ambassadors of Peace” honoree Ziggy Marley
The reality is that there’s a constant pressure on entertainers to denounce Israel at every turn. Thankfully, the entertainment industry has had a reliable organization that, for over a decade, has helped artists navigate this nasty terrain and continue to embrace their fans in Israel.
That organization is Creative Community for Peace (CCFP). The Los Angeles-based nonprofit has been Israel’s top ally in reassuring entertainers that they are not only welcome to perform in Israel, but that Israel is committed to peace.
CCFP was founded in 2011, when David Renzer, then chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, was in Israel for a recording session in Tel Aviv. Around that time, certain musical artists were starting to cancel their tour performances scheduled in Israel, including his former client, Elvis Costello. Another was Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, who wrote an op-ed in The Guardian supporting a cultural boycott of Israel.
“It was pretty clear that the usual Jewish organizations, whether it was the federations or others, weren’t really addressing this in any way,” Renzer told the Journal. “And here we were, people from the entertainment industry, people from the music industry, kind of looking at each other, really troubled by seeing these cancellations and saying, ‘We need to do something, this isn’t being addressed.’”
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel was making headlines as more artists canceled tours. But by 2012, Renzer and Steve Schnur (president of Music for Electronic Arts) founded CCFP, and since then, they have become the go-to nonprofit organization for entertainers creating and performing in a world rife with misinformation about Israel.
It’s been said that “a lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots,” but over the past decade, the proliferation of smartphones and social media have enabled misinformation to orbit the planet at light speed (literally), especially when misinformation comes in the form of pressure on entertainers to cancel their shows in Israel.
Renzer and Schnur wanted their new organization to show strength in numbers, and that there was a strong movement to keep a cultural flow of artists between the United States and Israel. Renzer said that part of CCFP’s strength is not only having prominent leaders in the entertainment industry on board, but also support and understanding of the issues from the artists themselves.
CCFP has enlisted many vocal supporters over the last few years. Although CCFP is not content to just have an anti-boycott petition, their website does feature an excerpt of a petition that Renzer said boasts over 40,000 supporters in the entertainment industry.
The petition serves as a reminder to any artist being pressured to abandon a tour date in Israel to stay the course. It begins, “We, the undersigned, wholeheartedly support your upcoming visit to Israel. We know that ahead of your arrival, you may hear negative statements about the country from people pressuring you not to go. We believe that these statements are filled with distortions and untruths, and only serve to discourage meaningful discourse and understanding.”
Prominent signatories include Paul McCartney, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias, Justin Bieber and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The leadership of CCFP know their work is an uphill battle. Keeping up with social media memes that demonize Israel with catchy slogans have been tough to deal with. It’s a public relations war being waged, and CCFP’s current director Ari Ingel is one of the generals rallying resistance against it. Ingel called the BDS movement’s social media postings “a concerted, calculated campaign strategy.”
“They want to keep it as ‘a part-time genocide,’ ‘ethnic cleansing,’ ‘Israel kills children,’ ‘they’re an oppressor,’ they’re white people,’ and that can fit easily on memes when none of that is true,” Ingel told the Journal. “But to explain that none of it is true takes a little bit more effort.”
This was on full display during clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in the spring of 2021. While rockets were being launched into Israel, the BDS movement went online to take aim at American progressives with anti-Israel statements .
One such example was a Twitter post by Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon. She posted a graphic stating, “Myth: Palestine and Israel are in ‘conflict.’ Fact: What is happening in Palestine is settler colonialism, military occupation, land theft and ethnic cleansing. A conflict means there is equal footing, which is not the case. There is an active oppressor (Israel) and an oppressed (Palestine). A colonizer (Israel) and a colonized (Palestine). This is not a conflict.”
Ingel said that such anti-Israel rhetoric often masquerades as progressivism to gain more supporters, which is one of the perils to Israel in the entertainment industry that Ingel and CCFP seek to rectify.
“They’re spreading memes in sort of the social justice atmosphere that we live in, thinking that an American racial lens can just be planted onto the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Ingel said. “It doesn’t work like that. It’s a totally different situation. We called on the entertainment industry to stop spreading this information because all it’s doing is inflaming the situation.”
On May 14, nearly 130 entertainment figures, including actress Selma Blair, singer Michael Buble and “The View” co-host Meghan McCain signed on to a statement calling on their “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.”
The press releases and petitions are only a first step in CCFP’s work in promoting peace and correcting misleading news that hurt both Israel and the arts. CCFP takes precise actions to correct the wrongs running laps around the truth.
For years, Ingel had worked as an entertainment lawyer. When he joined CCFP as director in 2018, Israel had just been thrust into the world’s entertainment spotlight after the 63rd annual Eurovision Song Contest.
The massive event can be described as “The Voice” meets the Olympics—thousands of singers competing under their country’s flag to be declared champion. Past winners who got their big break at Eurovision include ABBA (1974) and Céline Dion (1988). The 2018 winner was Israeli singer Netta. Netta’s triumph also bestowed Israel with the honor of hosting the Eurovision event in 2019.
A massive number of singers were going to be invited to perform in Israel for an internationally-televised singing spectacle.
“We understood right away that these contestants were going to be bombarded with boycott calls to pull out,” Ingel said. “I was in touch personally with contestants and with the participating broadcast companies from all the countries and some of the production people on the ground in Israel that were putting on the event to ensure that no one pulled out.”
Ingel was incensed that contestants who were simply vying to be the contestants representing their home countries were getting calls to boycott. He recalled that there were 12 contestants vying to represent Australia. They were bombarded with accusations that by performing, they would be “supporting apartheid and ethnic cleansing.” Ingel contacted them.
“They were very grateful and thankful that I reached out to them and that they were finally hearing another point of view,” Ingel said. “We were able to ensure that not a single contestant pulled out.”
The event was a success, and The Independent called Israel’s hosting and hospitality “one of the best Eurovision Song Contests in recent memory.”
It’s a tough job to navigate, but CCFP is up for the challenge.
Ingel said one of the tougher parts of the job is when popular artists are directly targeted on social media. Ingel’s team is there to recognize and strategize, because the truth about what is happening in Israel can be easily be buried by bots on the comment boards.
ENTERTAINERS ARE LOW-HANGING FRUIT FOR INFLUENCERS BECAUSE ENTERTAINERS THEMSELVES ARE ACTIVELY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, AND TOO OFTEN THEIR FANS ARE READING THE UNFILTERED VITRIOL IN THE COMMENT THREADS.
One reason that Ingel said the BDS movement so heavily targets artists, influencers and entertainers is that they are unlike big corporate CEOs, the shot callers who could theoretically pull their products from Israel. But a physical embargo is a tough sell. Entertainers are low-hanging fruit for influencers because entertainers themselves are actively on social media, and too often their fans are reading the unfiltered vitriol in the comment threads.
“They flood their accounts with bots, trolls and fake accounts in calculated organized attacks,” Ingel said, citing two common refrains in these attacks. One is that the BDS movement tries to bully the entertainer themselves from talking about or going to Israel. The second thing is that they overtake the entertainer’s social media feed and use it as their own bully pulpit to influence the impressionable young fans of the entertainer. When the people at CCFP catch wind that this is occurring, they work with these entertainers to alert them about it.
During the summer of 2021, singer Billie Eilish posted a short video promoting her new album to fans in Israel.
“Hi Israel, this is Billie Eilish and I’m so excited that my new album ‘Happier Than Ever’ is out now,” the 19-year old singer said.
Her Instagram alone has over 99 million followers. If Eilish’s Instagram followers were a country, it would rank as the 15th largest in the world—more than Iran, Turkey and Germany. That is a lot of influence one person can have over a lot of people around the world. Eilish’s comment threads are not only enormous, but Eilish’s account quickly became a lightning rod of anti-Israel and antisemitic remarks. The BDS movement trolls overran subsequent posts she made.
CCFP sprung into action, and released an analysis of the attack on Billie Eilish’s social media over the course of two weeks. Of the six posts analyzed, the report focused on organized bots and trolling:
Of the comments that attracted the most engagement, 30% were distinctly anti-Israel and were posted by users who have zero posts on their personal profiles (a strong indicator of bot activity). These comments garnered a total of 235,995 likes.
In addition, 48% were distinctly anti-Israel and were posted by users with 0-2 posts on their private profiles (a strong indicator of suspected bot activity). Those comments garnered a total of 291,995 likes.
CCFP then alerted and talked to Eilish’s management team so they understood what was happening: Eilish was being trolled by coordinated nefarious actors. Never mind that the first single from the album spent its first two weeks as the 11th most-streamed song on Spotify in Israel. Six months later, “Happier Than Ever” is still in Israel’s weekly top 100 most streamed songs.
A similar targeting happened to singer Demi Lovato when she visited Israel in 2019. On social media posts chronicling her visits to Yad Vashem, a disabled children’s center and even a baptism in the Jordan River, the trolls went out in full force.
Both Lovato and her fans were attacked with anti-Israel and antisemitic harassment. CCFP stepped in and put out a press release that was picked up by several media outlets decrying the harassment. Lovato, too, has a huge following of fans—over 124 million.
On January 6, CCFP penned a letter in response to calls for a boycott of an upcoming major arts festival in Sydney, Australia over the participation of an Israeli dance troupe. The letter was signed by 120 prominent people in the entertainment industry to oppose the boycott. It featured a powerful quote from Australian rock star Nick Cave.
“Israel is a real, vibrant, functioning democracy—yes, with Arab members of parliament,” read Cave’s statement in the CCFP letter. “And so engaging with Israelis, who vote, may be more helpful than scaring off artists or shutting down means of engagement.” Other notable rock star signers include the KISS bassist Gene Simmons (a native of Haifa) and Disturbed’s David Draiman.
Before he penned hard rock hits like “Down with the Sickness” and “Ten Thousand Fists,” Draiman pursued a Torah study and cantorial training in his teens. And when he hears that bands he’s connected with are putting Israel on the tour calendar, he reaches out to offer support and answer those bands’ questions.
“I try to be just a source of information and I try to assure and reassure them and help them understand that you’re going to dealing with a wave of [explicative]. It’s going to be temporary, and at the end, you’re going to end up gaining a tremendous amount of more fans…it’s unfortunately the extremist voices that are the loudest. Of course, there aren’t as many of ‘em as you think. But they tend to scream quite a bit.”
Those loud voices and faceless fights are always a challenge for CCFP. With a world glued to smartphones, it is dangerous to ignore the public relations war against Israel. Even if most of the infantry of the anti-Israel social media crusade would never talk in person the same way they talk online, the stakes are too high to be taken lightly for Israel’s future.
Ingel’s frustration with anti-Israel hypocrisy becomes even more evident in his voice when he mentions the calls for a boycott of the Tel Aviv International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (TLVFest).
“There [are] Palestinian filmmakers [who] are part of that event,” Ingel said. “That’s not something you would assume [the BDS movement] would go after—and they do.”
There were two films by Palestinian filmmakers that were featured in the 2021 festival. Ingel and CCFP were able to have over 200 prominent entertainment figures sign onto the opposition of the boycott of TLVFest, including actor Neil Patrick Harris and actress Mila Kunis.
Another prominent entertainment figure who is always quick to sign on to CCFP’s initiatives to oppose cultural boycotts of Israel is Ben Silverman. While he is an Emmy-award winning executive producer of NBC’s “The Office,” Silverman has spent his career working on dozens of films and television shows that shed light on injustice and misinformation.
“IT REALLY INFURIATED ME THAT THERE WAS SUCH HYPOCRISY ABOUT THE ARTS COMING TO ISRAEL. [IT’S] A PLACE THAT NOT ONLY FOSTERS SOME BRILLIANT ARTISTIC OUTPUT, BUT IS ALSO SUCH A DEMOCRATIC AND CULTURALLY-TOLERANT STATE.”
“I truly care about giving voice and opportunity to artists around the world,” Silverman told the Journal about his continued reasons for staying involved with CCFP’s mission. “It really infuriated me that there was such hypocrisy about the arts coming to Israel. [It’s] a place that not only fosters some brilliant artistic output, but is also such a democratic and culturally-tolerant state.”
Every time he is asked by CCFP to make a phone call to help out the cause, he remembers his motivation.
“The arts— artistic conversations and artistic moments—open conversations, open doors and build bridges. It’s actually one of the great and most effective tools of humanity to connect people through laughter or music or drama or painting and all the emotions that great art can convey,” Silverman said. “So it’s just particularly disappointing and pathetic that people would not allow artists to thrive wherever they wanted to go and to travel freely to express their art. So I’m passionately supportive of CCFP’s mission.”
“THE ARTS— ARTISTIC CONVERSATIONS AND ARTISTIC MOMENTS—OPEN CONVERSATIONS, OPEN DOORS AND BUILD BRIDGES. IT’S ACTUALLY ONE OF THE GREAT AND MOST EFFECTIVE TOOLS OF HUMANITY TO CONNECT PEOPLE THROUGH LAUGHTER OR MUSIC OR DRAMA OR PAINTING AND ALL THE EMOTIONS THAT GREAT ART CAN CONVEY.”
Silverman sees entertainment and storytelling as an elevated way to shine a light on multiple subjects and a means to give voice to those who may not have a voice. He’s especially irked by mobs of people making harmful statements about complicated subjects without understanding them. And he took on the role of entertainment “bridge builder” long-before he became active with CCFP.
One of Silverman’s earlier projects he produced, a documentary series on FX called “30 Days,” epitomizes his approach to using the arts to build bridges. Each episode would document a person in an unfamiliar situation for 30 days. The 2005 episode, “Muslims and America,” had a conservative Christian man live with a Muslim family and embrace their customs for 30 days.
The family, the Christian man and the show’s host Morgan Spurlock presented an inspiring arc of breakthroughs and illuminations about religious respect, peace and coexistence. For that episode, the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles gave the show a “Media Bridge Builder” award.
From left, co-founder David Renzer, “Ambassadors of Peace” honorees Ben Maddahi and Harvey Mason Jr., and CCFP Director Ari Ingel
CCFP uses their platform every year to award individuals in the entertainment industry who have championed the cause of promoting the arts as a bridge to peace and counter antisemitism in the entertainment industry. The honor, called the “Ambassadors of Peace” award, also galvanizes “support against the cultural boycott of Israel.” Past honorees have included musician Ziggy Marley, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. and 12-time Oscar nominated songwriter, Diane Warren.
One particular 2021 honoree, Electric Feel Entertainment CEO Austin Rosen, made a simple but impactful reminder in his acceptance speech that music is a universal language that brings people together. The 33-year old New York native will be expanding his production business to Tel Aviv this year by building a studio and signing Israeli-based talent. Rosen, who is also the manager of rapper Post Malone, was named “Manager of the Year” by Variety.
CCFP’s continued success depends on young leaders like Rosen to maintain a creative pipeline between Israel and the rest of the world. But long-time veterans of the entertainment industry may have some of the most practical advice to the people CCFP aims to influence.
Haim Saban, an Israeli-American media mogul and longtime CCFP advocate, had much to say about what the future may hold for the public affairs war against entertainment and Israel.
“An environment which values and fosters dialogue as a tool to understand each other can change realities,” Saban told the Journal. “I think it’s important to have patience, and accept when someone disagrees. Just because someone is on the other side today, doesn’t mean they will be tomorrow.”
Saban’s words hold much gravity in this realm. He was born in Egypt, raised in Israel and has spent over 50 years in the entertainment business. His success has put him in the ear of heads of state in both the U.S. and Israel. He has negotiated lucrative mergers and acquisitions in the entertainment industry. As a fervent Israel advocate and a business leader, Saban has a valued vantage point in foreseeing the basic challenges of CCFP’s mission. He said it starts with humanization.
“TOO MANY FOLKS SEE ISRAEL AND ISRAELIS SOLELY THROUGH THE CONFLICT IN A VERY ONE-SIDED, POLITICIZED MANNER, RATHER THAN AS HUMAN BEINGS WITH COMPLEX STORIES.”
“Too many folks see Israel and Israelis solely through the conflict in a very one-sided, politicized manner, rather than as human beings with complex stories,” he said. “In recent years, we’ve seen an improvement in the representation of Israelis and Jews in the media, but there’s still work to be done. When someone like Gal Gadot is featured in the media, the audience connects with her as an Israeli.”
While Israel’s virtues should speak for themselves, it’s difficult for the small country to compete with the BDS movement’s coordinated campaigns. And while it may be easy to dismiss what an entertainer has to say about critical world issues, it’s dangerous to underestimate the ease and speed at which entertainers may be influenced by the millions. That which entertains us has the power to influence our thinking. CCFP exists to ensure there’s a future of discourse and arts flowing between Israel and the rest of the world.
“Nonprofits like Creative Community for Peace provide an avenue for artists and public figures to stand in solidarity in the pursuit of peace,” Saban said. “The only way to counter boycotts, misinformation and cultural pressure is to push for dialogue and continue to build bridges through artistic expression. Arts have the ability to bring people together in the shared love of culture.”
This month, several editorials have been published and countless toxic comments made on social media calling on artists to boycott the Sydney Festival.
The reason? The Israeli Embassy in Sydney wanted financially to support the artists, musicians and community of Sydney, a gesture of goodwill and friendship that has been offered in past festivals by numerous other embassies and internationally affiliated companies and organisations.
As an Australian who has worked with some of the most well-known cultural, film and music acts in the world, I feel compelled to respond to this disturbing, divisive and hugely counterproductive call. A call that harms local artists, unfairly demonises and dehumanises Israelis and ultimately damages the prospects for peace in the Middle East.
My work as an entertainment lawyer has included representation of film directors, writers and actors from all over the Middle East including Egyptians, Iranians, Saudis, Palestinians as well as Israelis. At the request of the Film Festival in Beirut, I was invited to teach a masterclass to young Middle Eastern filmmakers and share my 38 years of experience in an effort to help the next generation learn about the industry. The week that I spent there was one of the most fulfilling chapters of my career. It included leading a discussion with representatives from around the Middle East on how bringing together people in the arts is a way of finding commonality – building bridges together, not pulling them down.
During my career I’ve witnessed the power of cultural experiences, like music, to unite people of different backgrounds and from diverse communities. And I’ve used my platform to stand in solidarity with others.
The calls to boycott Israel, Israeli artists and festivals like this one merely dampen the constructive forms of engagement needed to bring Israelis, Palestinians and the international community together. They make it more difficult to establish trust, mutual understanding and compromise. Artists and entertainers have the ability to effect positive change and the selective targeting of Israel for a cultural boycott not only does not bring the region any closer to peace, but also fails and silences artists in the process.
In the worst instances, these boycotts have led to death threats against cultural icons including Argentine footballer Lionel Messi and songwriter Paul McCartney for merely wishing to visit Israel to play a friendly soccer match and perform at a concert there.
Hamas, which is a member of the boycott movement’s central committee, just publicly declared its support for the entertainers who have pulled out. Hamas is an internationally designated terrorist organisation whose aim is the destruction of Israel.
There’s a curious talking point used by those in favour of boycotting Israel and it can be found on the website of the activists spearheading the boycott of the Sydney Festival. It states: “Israel has long used culture and the arts to cloak its atrocities against the Palestinian people.” There is an insidious logic to such a statement. Are Israelis allowed to support the arts without being accused of doing so for shadowy reasons? Is every Israeli action, regardless of how benign, philanthropic or altruistic, an attempt to “cloak” Israeli domestic policies? Would we levy the same accusations against Australia? If so, is the Sydney Festival itself some sort of PR stunt to cover up our own nation’s shortcomings? This is a fallacious argument at its core.
There is such a thing as objective truth. And the assertion that Israel is an inherently racist, colonialist, apartheid state is simply not true. The calls to boycott Israeli-affiliated events like the Sydney Festival, push concepts of “us versus them” and “good versus evil”, paint the current conflict as undeniably simple. And if you question its supposed simplicity, you only prove your guilt of “oppression”. Those calling for this boycott refuse to acknowledge the considerable complexity, nuance and legitimate obstacles to peace that exist. They refuse to acknowledge that Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel and that more than half of Israelis are Mizrahi or Sephardic Jews who never left the Middle East when Jews were dispersed around the world by invaders centuries ago.
Recognising this truth doesn’t prevent peace, but allows for a mature, robust dialogue of how to achieve it. And it does so without misleading slogans, incendiary accusations and heated boycotts.
Unfortunately, the calls to boycott the Sydney Festival misrepresent basic truths about the Israeli state and weaponise indigeneity, while unfairly pressuring local artists from performing.
Let’s elevate the conversation, commit to being partners in peace, honour the lived history of Jews in their indigenous homeland and support local artists who want to perform in theirs.
While art can reflect politics, and artists can choose to reflect their politics in their own art, art should never become subservient to politics and artists and cultural events should never be forced to be politicised. Ultimately, the boycott movement is an affront to Palestinian and Israeli moderates alike who are seeking to reach peace through compromise, exchange and mutual recognition.
Craig Emanuel is the chair of the Entertainment and Media Practice of global legal firm Paul Hastings.
Craig Emanual is also an Advisory Board member of Creative Community for Peace.
Cover Photo: Decadance, produced by the Sydney Dance Company, at the Sydney Opera House by Daniel Boud.
An anti-Israeli protest boycotting the Sydney Festival has been slammed as censorship for political purposes by celebrities around the world, including KISS frontman Gene Simmons.
By: Christopher Harris
Hollywood heavyweights have clapped back at anti-Israeli protesters boycotting the Sydney Festival after the Israeli embassy handed over $20,000 to help the arts festival put on a series of contemporary dance performances by a world-renowned choreographer.
So far 11 events have been cancelled from the festival’s line-up of plays, concerts and other performances due to artists pulling out.
A Jewish leader on Thursday said nobody batted an eyelid when the Chinese Communist Party-controlled China Southern Airlines sponsored the festival for seven years but the latest partnership triggered outrage, including from comedian Tom Ballard who said the money should be handed back.
“I respectfully ask that (the Sydney Festival) review its decision and return the funding in question, and I call on other artists to consider joining this boycott, too,” Ballard said.
The cast and crew of the play Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner also pulled out, saying that remaining involved would mean being complicit with “the art-washing of their star sponsor’s apartheid state”.
But Hollywood heavyweights, including Nancy Spielberg, as well as KISS frontman Gene Simmons signed an open letter yesterday urging Australians to resist attempts at censorship for political purposes.
“While art can reflect politics and artists can choose to reflect their politics in their own art, art should never become subservient to politics, and artists and cultural events should never be forced to be politicised,” the letter said.
Warner Records chief executive Aaron Bay-Schuck and Australian musician Nick Cave were also among the 120 signatories to the letter, co-ordinated by the Creative Community for Peace — a non-profit group promoting the arts as a means to counter anti-Semitism and oppose the cultural boycott of Israel.
The $20,000 reportedly paid by the Israeli embassy went to supporting the presentation of Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin’s Decadance at the Sydney Opera House from Thursday.
A festival spokesman said the performance was close to selling out, and of the 133 events originally scheduled, 11 were not proceeding.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Darren Bark said China had indirectly backed the event for years.
“Despite the accusations against China’s government regarding the genocide against the Uyghurs and the Tibetans, there were no similar boycott campaigns like we are seeing this year,” he said.
There is little doubt that antisemitism in America has intensified recently. In the world of arts and culture, it may be more subtle than a scrawled swastika or a torched synagogue, but anti-Jewish bias in that realm is nonetheless a growing phenomenon.
This bias plays out in multiple ways, according to those looking at culture through a Jewish lens. One of the most recognizable is the marginalization—even demonization—of Israel, with Israeli narratives and artists who perform in Israel targeted by cultural boycotts. At the same time, debate persists among academics and media industry professionals about the degree to which Jews and Jewish stories are excluded from current diversity conversations.
Controversies around Israel “happen every year,” observed Shayna Weiss, the associate director of Brandeis University’s Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and a scholar of Jews in popular culture. “I think we see it more now because it’s easier to find these things online.”
Photo from ‘Happier Than Ever,’ Mason Poole/Disney.
A prime example is the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), in whose name pro-Palestinian activists have bullied entertainers who perform in Israel for years. Yet today, we watch the back-and-forth in real time on social media platforms that weren’t as popular, or weren’t around, back when the movement first emerged in the early 2000s. Announcements of a November concert in Israel by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas were met with instant boycott calls on Facebook and Twitter. And last July, singer/songwriter Billie Eilish’s Instagram account was targeted by antisemitic trolls after she promoted the launch in Israel of her album Happier Than Ever.
Social media has amplified other recent dustups, including popular Irish author Sally Rooney’s refusal to allow an Israeli publisher to translate her latest novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You, into Hebrew; comedian Sarah Silverman calling out “Jewface,” a neologism to describe non-Jewish actors playing Jewish roles, in a September podcast; and in spring 2021, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators issuing, and then apologizing for, a statement that condemned antisemitism.
The entertainment community for the most part is very liberal. And on the left, unfortunately, if you support Israel, you’re being pushed out of those spaces,” said Ari Ingel, director of Creative Community for Peace, a nonprofit arts industry group that combats antisemitism, specifically the cultural boycott of Israel.
Ingel is among those who bemoan a progressive tendency to critique Israel’s complex, multicultural society in terms of America’s charged racial paradigm—“white oppressors, brown victims,” he said, with Israeli Jews cast as the oppressors. “It has been lumped into: If you’re a Zionist, that means you’re a colonizer. When you have Israel labeled a genocidal state and 90 percent of Jews in America support Israel, then all of a sudden Jews support genocide.” At a time when racial issues dominate American discourse, this perception has led to the increase in anti-Jewish sentiment.
On her podcast, Sarah Silverman discussed issues around ‘Jewface,’ when non-Jews are cast as Jewish characters, such as Rachel Brosnahan as Midge Maisel and Tony Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle as Midge’s parents in ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.’ Photo courtesy of Kast Media.
“We’ve seen these views emanate online from influencers in the entertainment community,” Ingel added. In 2020, rapper Ice Cube tweeted antisemitic images of a mural with large-nosed men playing Monopoly on the backs of Black people. The same year, Nick Cannon, host of the reality competition show The Masked Singer, shared classic antisemitic conspiracy theories on his podcast, asking why “we give so much power to the ‘theys,’ and ‘theys’ turn into Illuminati, the Zionists, the Rothschilds.”
In response, ViacomCBS canceled Cannon’s improv comedy television show, Wild N’ Out. The entertainer apologized and engaged in dialogue with the Jewish community. His show is now back on the air.
Ingel said his organization provides “balance” to what is often a strongly anti-Jewish discourse, supporting entertainers and sports figures who work in Israel. Last October, the group published an open letter protesting a boycott of TLVFest, the annual Tel Aviv International LGBTQ+ Film Festival. The 200 entertainment industry signatories included actors Neil Patrick Harris, Billy Porter and Helen Mirren (who, for her upcoming film role as Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, has been showered with antisemitic hate online). And nearly 50,000 artists have signed the group’s online petition against the cultural boycott of Israel since 2012, when Creative Community for Peace was founded by David Renzer, then CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group, and Steve Schnur, who heads the music division of Electronic Arts, the world’s largest video game company.
Courtesy of TLVfest.
Such high-profile signatories “demonstrate to the public that there’s still broad-based support for understanding and dialogue,” Ingel noted. “Where politics can be so divisive, arts, sports and music can really bring people together.”
Some observers like Weiss, the Brandeis scholar, suggest that BDS and its offshoots may be louder than they are successful. “Israeli culture has unprecedented amounts of money and attention,” said Weiss, citing Israeli shows that have become international hits—Tehran, Fauda and Shtisel among them—as well as the many Israeli series optioned for American remakes. “Money talks, and there’s a lot of money to be made working with Israeli films and television.
“It’s easy to freak out about Sally Rooney, but that is one book versus thousands that are translated into Hebrew every year,” Weiss continued. “The internet loves outrage, but these things have to be taken in context.”
In a different sector of the arts world, anti-Israel sentiment sparked internet outrage last June when the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, one of the largest international children’s literature organizations, apologized to its Palestinian and Muslim members after they objected to a post declaring that Jews should have the “right to life, safety, and freedom from scapegoating and fear.” The original statement was posted on Facebook in response to a surge in antisemitic violence in the United States; it asked readers to join “in speaking out against all forms of hate, including antisemitism,” and made no mention of Israel or its war with Hamas that same spring. Even so, pro-Palestinian members of the society complained that the “painful” lack of a parallel denunciation of Islamophobia amounted to taking sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—an argument that caught the attention of the children’s literature community on Twitter and Facebook.
Several weeks later, Lin Oliver, the society’s executive director, apologized on Facebook to everyone in the “Palestinian community who felt unrepresented, silenced, or marginalized.” (The society declined repeated requests for comment.) The controversy led to the resignation of the society’s chief equity and inclusion officer, April Powers, who is Black and Jewish. It also prompted many Jewish writers to voice discontent over their exclusion from industry diversity conversations and heightened their concerns about being targeted on social media.
Helen Estrin, a past president of the Association of Jewish Libraries, said this marginalization occurs because Jews, who are historically well represented in cultural industries, “are seen as having enough privilege and power that they don’t need support. It is unconscious—people aren’t walking around, for the most part, with swastikas—but I absolutely think it’s antisemitism.”
What Jewish authors notice in particular, Estrin said, is that they are excluded from minority grants and diversity programs, such as the ones run by the society, and that they are frequently harassed online. Authors also have complained that mainstream publishers reject Jewish- and Israel-themed books, a topic often discussed in the Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook group that Estrin administers with Susan Kusel.
“Frankly, we feel gaslit,” said Kusel, a member of the society whose most recent book is The Passover Guest. Jews are not being included in the diversity conversations, she believes, because their non-Jewish colleagues feel that “Jews do not need the boost. At the same time, we’re being persecuted as a minority.”
Photo courtesy of Sophie Macdonald.
Even before her debut young adult novel, Once More with Chutzpah, was published, writer Haley Neil confronted a torrent of online hatred for her story of a girl grappling with Jewish identity on a trip through Israel, which she based on her experiences growing up Jewish in an interfaith home. “This book supports genocide” is typical of many antisemitic comments Neil found about her book on Goodreads, a major online book platform that features early reviews of upcoming titles. “I worried my book would never reach an audience, because people who haven’t read it made false accusations about its contents,” Neil said of the novel, due out this February.
“The increasing focus on diversity in the kidlit space is wonderful,” said Tzivia MacLeod, a Canadian-Israeli author who has won awards from PJ Library (which published two of her titles) and is a regional adviser for the Israeli chapter of the society. “But it has created questions and resentment for authors.” Jews, she said, “need to start demanding a place at the [diversity] table for our own unique and underrepresented background, whether from North Africa, the Middle East or Europe.”
Tensions around presence and visibility complicate issues like “Jewface,” according to Shaina Hammerman, associate director at Stanford University’s Taube Center for Jewish Studies. With its reference to the history of white entertainers putting on blackface, Jewface refers not only to non-Jews cast as Jewish characters, but also to particular mannerisms or references that are uncomfortably close to ethnic caricature—roles “where Jewishness is front and center,” the Jewish comedian Sarah Silverman said, addressing the topic in the much-debated September episode of The Sarah Silverman Podcast.
The Jewface complaint also highlights how frequently non-Jews are cast in high-profile Jewish roles—especially those involving conventionally attractive or refined characters, like Midge Maisel and her parents in the Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, or historically important figures, like Helen Mirren as the titular character in an upcoming biopic of Golda Meir or Felicity Jones as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the film On the Basis of Sex.
“Look for the absence: the absence, in this case, of concern” and outrage in the public discourse, he writes, when non-Jewish actors play Jewish characters.
Indeed, on her podcast, Silverman insisted she was not calling for change so much as pointing out an uncomfortable double standard: Authentic representation is now de rigueur for virtually every minority group but Jews. Unlike other minority groups, however, Jewish actors have found work playing a range of characters.
“It’s been really important to make sure that a Native American plays a Native American character, or that an Asian play an Asian, because otherwise, historically, they weren’t getting jobs,” Hammerman, of the Taube Center for Jewish Studies, noted. “But Jewish actors are cast all the time to play non-Jews.”
In Hammerman’s view, how a Jewish character is written—as “a rich and interesting human”—is more critical than who plays the role. The larger question, she added, is how to ensure that Jews and antisemitism remain part of American conversations around racism and ethnic discrimination.
For many in the arts world, “it’s hard to hold in your mind at the same time that many Jews in this country have power and access—and also, that antisemitism is real,” Hammerman reflected. “The more we can address this complexity, the better off everybody is.”
Hilary Danailova writes about travel, culture, politics and lifestyle for numerous publications.
