Amid coronavirus and protests, celebrities are promoting antisemitism

In a society that is determined to fight racism, it’s strange and alarming to notice that even in these times, antisemitic celebrity behavior is at an all-time high.

By MOHAMAD TAWHIDI
HIP-HOP impresario Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, seen here on a New York City billboard, promoted Louis Farakkhan’s lecture in which he called the Jewish people ‘Satan.’ (photo credit: FLICKR/*HIGHLIMITZZ)
HIP-HOP impresario Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, seen here on a New York City billboard, promoted Louis Farakkhan’s lecture in which he called the Jewish people ‘Satan.’
(photo credit: FLICKR/*HIGHLIMITZZ)
Less than 10 years ago, I was a staunch antisemite and an extremist. I traveled across continents to preach theology, doctrine and jurisprudence. Whenever I had the opportunity, I attacked Jewish people and blamed them for all the evil in this world. There’s even a video of me from six years ago, when I stood a pulpit in Australia blaming Jews for all the problems facing Islam.
My life took a sharp turn after my Uncle Faris was kidnapped and killed by ISIS. I have discussed my journey to become a reformist imam in great detail during my speeches and in my book, The Tragedy of Islam: Admissions of a Muslim Imam. While I am still a preacher who travels the continents to preach theology and doctrine, it is with the conviction that peace and understanding are the only ways forward.
It is safe to say that most people know there is a conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in the Middle East, one that has resulted in many unnecessary deaths over the decades. What most people don’t know is that this conflict is being exported to other countries and utilized in many forms, the most prominent of them being antisemitism.
There are levels of antisemitism. The lowest level would be to hate Jews and reject that they are equal citizens, while the highest would be tragic events such as the Holocaust, a level of extermination. Spreading antisemitism has always resulted in attacks against Jewish people simply because they are Jews. This is why antisemitism needs to stop.
In a society that is determined to fight racism, it’s strange and alarming to notice that even in these times, antisemitic celebrity behavior is at an all-time high. Celebrities are rambling antisemitic sentiments and falsehoods while doing their best to cleverly cover their words with humor or some sort of political justification.
The conspiracies surrounding antisemitism are ancient. But what’s astounding is how anti-Jewish sentiment is exploding from the most unexpected places today. It is necessary for social-media icons to take a stand during these trying times. As more celebrities than ever are speaking out on both social and political matters, it is also necessary to ask if their messages are helpful.
Recently, the rapper Ice Cube tweeted an image of an antisemitic mural that was removed from a wall in London. The painting featured a caricature of Jewish businessmen playing Monopoly on the backs of black men. This tweet, along with his other statements targeting Jewish people for simply being Jewish, received condemnation from all sides of the political spectrum.
THE SURGE in antisemitic rhetoric is not sudden, and the present political conditions as well as the current pandemic have allowed many social-media influencers to gather their digital torches and pitchforks against the Jewish people and Israel.
Another celebrity, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame – notorious for his anti-Israel statements – appeared on a Hamas-affiliated TV network and blamed Israel for inventing the method police used to kill George Floyd.
“That is an Israeli technique,” Waters said, “taught to the militarized police forces of the United States of America by Israeli experts, who the Americans have been flying over to the United States to teach them how to murder the blacks because they’ve seen how efficient the Israelis have been at murdering Palestinians in the occupied territories using those techniques.”
There is absolutely zero evidence that the Israeli military taught American police how to murder American citizens.
Just when we thought this explosion of antisemitism among celebrities couldn’t get worse, we are surprised by rapper and record producer Sean “Diddy” Combs promoting a lecture by Louis Farrakhan, wherein he said that Jews were “Satan” and that Israel was the reason for guns, drugs and counterfeit money being in black neighborhoods.
Previously, Farrakhan compared Jews to termites, claiming he was not an antisemite but an “anti-termite.”
The antisemitism seen during the first half of 2020 has been utterly horrifying, and one can only pray that nothing tragic happens as a result. The year began with an online rumor accusing Jews of being responsible for COVID-19. While such statements might be spread by Internet trolls and antisemites, their origins are much more disturbing.
Tehreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan’s branch of Taliban terrorists, published a “report” regarding COVID-19. Its primary writer, Mufti Abu Hisham Masoud, claimed that Jews introduced the virus in order to rule the world, and said they must be stopped at all costs.
Masoud wrote, “In the light of this introduction, I would like to argue that the coronavirus, too, is an important part of the war underway in the name of the New World Order.”
Such propaganda is deadly, as it fuels a deadly industry of antisemitism that results in violence, hate and terrorism.
One can simply hope that this tryst of celebrities and antisemitism ends soon, and that we will no longer have any need to condemn such troubling hate speech. With so much around the world needing our help, there are much better things to do than just rant and spread antisemitic conspiracies.
The next time you hear an accusation against Jews in the media, don’t be surprised if you find out that it actually originated from the Taliban. But wherever it comes from, it must be stopped.
The writer is an Iranian-born Islamic scholar, educator, bestselling author, speaker and former president of the Islamic Association of South Australia.


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