The Awakening - Column 11
REFLECTIONS Written by Lana Melman for the SOUTH FLORIDA JEWISH JOURNAL / SUN SENTINEL. Originally published on January 24, 2024.
In January 2023, I was well into the tour for my book, Artists Under Fire: The War against Celebrities, Jews, and Israel, which explains how the demonization of Israel sets the stage for widespread antisemitism. By the end of 2023, many people awakened to this dangerous truth.
I spent most of January in Florida, where I made the rounds from the conservative Villages in the north to progressive audiences in the south. I began each engagement with the same question. Who here is concerned about rising Jew-hatred? Inevitably, everyone raised their hands.
The same was true in diverse cities like Atlanta, Georgia, White Plains, New York, Leeds, and London. I was interviewed and asked to write for publications in countries such as South Africa, England, Germany, Hungary, and Canada.
The bald-faced antisemitism that littered social media and spewed from the likes of Kanye West had people looking for the modern-day source of this age-old hate.
Antisemitism is an ideology that describes Jews as evil. What is considered evil may change from generation to generation, but the group falsely accused of being behind it never does. Jews have been condemned both for being capitalists and for being communists. They have faced discrimination for being too white and not white enough.
Today, when racism and colonialism are rightly denounced throughout the Western world, voices in academia and many social justice groups have tarred and feathered Israel, the Jewish homeland, with false charges of apartheid and land theft.
Unfortunately, it is a short trip from vilifying Israeli Jews to vilifying all Jews. Why? Because classic antisemitism holds all Jews responsible for true or perceived misconduct of any Jew.
In March, I spoke to members of the UK Parliament in support of a bill that effectively restricts Britian’s public bodies from boycotting Israel. It stemmed from the idea that such boycott campaigns “undermine community cohesion.”
The UK (and before that, England) has a long history of anti-Jewish prejudice and harassment. In 1290, England expelled its Jews and did not allow them to return for 360 years. Several Jewish community leaders I met felt that the bill implicitly recognizes BDS as the force behind today’s antisemitism in the Kingdom. The bill passed.
In recent years, major Jewish organizations drifted away from their original mission to protect Jews to more universal aspirations “against all hate.” They emphasized antisemitism coming from far-right groups such as the Proud Boys, downplaying the anti-Jewish discrimination and bias coming from many of the social justice groups on the left.
This too was changing. In May, for example, Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) hardly mentioned far-right Jew-hatred at the ADL’s annual summit and instead drilled down on the message that antizionism is antisemitism.
While universal values like social justice blend seamlessly with traditional Jewish commandments like tzedakah (justice), for years, too many rabbis have focused on progressive agendas while excoriating Israel.
In August, I spoke at a Zionist Rabbinic Coalition (ZRC) conference in Washington, DC. The ZRC promotes unity with Israel and warns of the harm done, not just to Israel but to Jewish identity, when all people hear from their rabbis is criticism of the State of Israel.
And then there was October 7 - the catastrophe that shook our souls. It isn’t just the number - 1200 murdered and hundreds stolen from their homes. It is the torture, mutilation, rape, and desecration that echo the atrocities of the Holocaust. And it is the hubris of Hamas to videotape themselves, share the evidence, and pledge more of the same.
The October 7 murderers danced with glee, and shockingly, so many others in the world are dancing with them. The presidents of three of the most revered universities in the country couldn’t bring themselves to say that calling for the genocide of Jews violated their school’s code of conduct. Mobs are taking to the streets in the West and calling for a global intifada. Yes, global.
For years, it seemed that Jews in Israel and the Diaspora (outside of Israel) focused on their differences. In 2023, we learned again that our fates entwine. We are a diverse people leading different lives, but when the sky darkens with hate to the rest of the world, we look amazingly alike.
I’m not sure what 2024 will bring, but I know we must stand together. We must refuse to sit quietly as the horror of the 7th is justified or erased. We must work to expose the systemic Jew-hatred that has infiltrated school curriculums and left leaning talking points. And we must take our stars of Daivd out of our drawers and hang them proudly on our necks.
Read the original article here.
Bio: Lana Melman is the CEO of Liberate Art and the author of Artists Under Fire: The BDS War against Celebrities, Jews, and Israel. She is a 20-year veteran of the entertainment industry and has been a leader in the fight against the cultural boycott campaign against Israel since 2011. Learn more or contact: www.liberateart.net
Lana Melman is a contributing columnist for the South Florida Jewish Journal / Sun Sentinel.