HTLA: The Ripple Effects of Antisemitism in LA

Episode 26

Evan Jacoby  00:00

From LAist Studios, this is How to LA. Brian's out today, but we've got a story that felt too timely to hold on to.

Megan Botel  00:06

So the producers are taking over the show. I'm Megan Botel.

Evan Jacoby  00:10

And I'm Evan Jacoby. Today's story is coming from us.

Kanye West  00:13

[music in] [audio clip] I could literally say antisemitic shit and Adidas can't drop me. Now what?

Evan Jacoby  00:20

So, Megan, you've been talking to some Jewish leaders in the community. But before we get into that, let's get situated a little bit. What happened here?

Megan Botel  00:30

So Kanye West now known as "Ye," basically went on this weeks long tirade. He wore a "White Lives Matter" shirt during the Yeezy show in Paris with Candace Owens. Then things got really antisemitic.

News Anchor  00:42

[audio clip] Kanye West is issuing a non-apology apology after his antisemitic anti-black comments.

Interviewer  00:49

[audio clip] My question for you is, do you now regret saying [Kanye speaks over interviewer: I, I say it every day.] on Jewish people? Are you sorry you said that? [Kanye: No.] Do you think it matters? You should be. [Kanye: Absolutely not.]

Megan Botel  00:58

And it had a ripple effect, which we saw right here in LA, over the 405 freeway.

News Anchor  01:00

[audio clip] On a highway in Los Angeles, drivers were greeted with this antisemitic banner over the weekend, following a recent string of hateful comments from rapper Kanye West.

Evan Jacoby  01:15

People were pissed. Kanye was dropped from his talent agency and a bunch of brands like Balenciaga dropped him too.

News Anchor  01:21

[audio clip] Vogue, Balenciaga. And just today, the Gap yanked all his Yeezy stuff.

News Anchor  01:25

[audio clip] Several other companies recently cut ties as well.

Evan Jacoby  01:28

Adidas dragged their feet for a little bit, but eventually they also cut the relationship with him.

News Anchor  01:33

[audio clip] Not a good day for Ye at all.

Megan Botel  01:38

So I'm Jewish. I'm not super religious or anything, but I've been thinking about and sort of baffled by [music out] this rising trend in antisemitism for years. [music in] The Anti-Defamation League monitors what they call antisemitic incidents, things like vandalisms, assaults, and they reported that LA and its surrounding counties saw an increase of over 200%, from 2017 to 2021.

Evan Jacoby  02:02

Yeah, and I mean, this is an LA story. LA as a city has the third largest Jewish population in the world.

Megan Botel  02:10

Exactly. And it's not just LA. [Evan: Mmm.] This whole Kanye fiasco puts a spotlight on it all, but the FBI says Jews are the top target for hate crimes in the country.

Diane Winston  02:20

In the best of all possible worlds, we wouldn't use the word "antisemitism." The correct term would be "Judeophobia," which kind of tracks with Islamophobia, homophobia, [music out] and its hatred of a certain group. I'm on a one woman campaign to change the terminology here. [laughs]

Megan Botel  02:38

So today, we're gonna talk to some experts, who can give this story a little bit of context.

Diane Winston  02:43

I'm Diane Winston, and I teach about religion and popular culture. For a few years, I was the chairman of the Nexus Task Force. One of the things we did was to clarify a definition of what antisemitism was. Basically we say antisemitism is negative feelings, attitudes, behaviors, that treat Jews as a monolith, and that can harm or defame or hurt them.

Megan Botel  03:13

Can you talk a little bit about recent trends in antisemitism, or as you say, Judeophobia? Do you feel like it's gotten worse in recent years?

Diane Winston  03:23

There's no denying that antisemitism or Judeophobia, has gotten worse in the last few years. There's several reasons for that, and one is Trump, that he opened the door to validating white nationalists. Now, what's really interesting today, is that antisemitism is coming from all directions. It's not new. What's new is it being so public.

Megan Botel  03:53

Do you feel like there's a reason why it's left out, seemingly, of like the cultural conversation?

Diane Winston  03:59

Most Americans don't remember what happened a year ago, much less 10 years ago, and many of them don't know basic American history. They are unaware of the fact that Jews experienced lots of discrimination starting in the 19th century when they came here by the millions, because they were fleeing persecution and massacres in Russia and Eastern Europe. There were racial and religious covenants in all major American cities, including Los Angeles, until the 1950s, 1960s that forbid Jews from living in certain neighborhoods, from going to certain private schools. But I don't think many Americans today really know this history of discrimination against Jews in America.

Megan Botel  04:47

So you're an expert on- You study the media. [laughs] Um, what's the ripple effect of someone with as much influence as Kanye West? What does that do to the Jewish community, like what are the repercussions?

Diane Winston  05:01

The fact that Kanye has come out through Tweets and through interviews, saying racist things about Jews, affects all the people who like Kanye, and trust Kanye, and believe what Kanye says could be true. But it also enables folks like Tucker Carlson, and white nationalist media commentators to use his words and say, Look, even this guy agrees with us. So it's like a double megaphone. And you can see how that plays out here in LA in the incident on the 405, when the Goyim Defense League came and hung up their banners. And it's important to remember they not only hung up the banner about Kanye, they also hung up an American flag and Bible verses. So once again, it's this triangulation that Jews are not part of America or the Bible. And then later, the Holocaust Museum of LA invited Kanye to come have a private tour so they might help him understand this history. He said no, and afterwards, a lot of his supporters began sending hate mail, hate Tweets about the Holocaust Museum. Everything he does can blow up, and it has blown up.

Megan Botel  06:21

Is this moment of antisemitism different than the antisemitism of the past, like during and after World War II?

Diane Winston  06:32

Social media blows everything up really quickly. A small thing becomes a large thing, becomes a global thing, because Tweets, Tic Tok, Instagram, all of the platforms can spread lies, hatred, fear. That's why I think today's situation is different.

Rabbi Noah Farkas  06:52

I think the general feeling amongst the Jewish community is that we're pretty on edge.

Megan Botel  06:57

That's Rabbi Noah Farkas.

Rabbi Noah Farkas  06:58

I'm the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. Here in Los Angeles, specifically, the Jewish community is incredibly diverse. There are Moroccan Jews, there are Mexican American Jews, there are Iranian American Jews, they're Israeli American Jews. The problem is, is that when influencers like Kanye West use hateful, slanderous, and vicious remarks about Jews or any other minority group, or historically marginalized group, it creates an environment where it normalizes hate. And we're seeing that now play out across the city, including vicious, antisemitic leaflets showing up on the doorposts of Jewish homes across the city. I got a note this morning that a third neighborhood has been hit by one of these drops. The Jewish community is very nervous.

Megan Botel  07:51

And so what would that look like to you, like what can we do in Los Angeles at this moment? And like, as someone who the Jewish community goes to for wisdom, what are you telling people?

Rabbi Noah Farkas  08:01

I think there are three things we can do as Jews and as Angelenos. The first is when people like Kanye West, or other political figures or lifestyle figures, have massive Instagram followings and Twitter followings, when they have financial relationships with multinational corporations, and they normalize hate, they need to be de-platformed. The second thing, which I think is really important, and that most people don't understand- there isn't a synagogue or a school that doesn't have a massive security system armed to protect Jewish students to go to school. I do not think it is fair that Jews have to spend millions and millions of dollars to enjoy the same first amendment rights that others in our community get to express. And then thirdly, there are wonderful diversity, equity, and inclusion movements happening across corporations, civic spaces, nonprofit organizations, schools, etc. But for whatever reason, historically, in the last several years, Jews have been excluded from diversity, equity, and inclusion training. I have had many conversations with executives and workers at multinational corporations who are Jewish that feel that their corporations don't make statements. They don't support the Jewish groups that work inside of their organization. A couple years ago, when there was a violent attack on La Cienega Boulevard here in Los Angeles, many Jews felt left in the lurch, that their corporations, their multinational corporations didn't put out a statement when they put out statements when similar acts happen against other minority communities. [music in] I think that if you're having a cocktail party and you're talking about the state of affairs, do us a favor and bring it up. Don't put it on the Jew to advocate only for their own freedom. We're all in this together. Redemption is mutual. Our city will be redeemed, our country will be redeemed when you see your redemption tied to ours and we see ours tied to yours.

Megan Botel  10:05

Alright, that's all we have for you today.

Evan Jacoby  10:15

This has been How to LA from LAist Studios. Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. We'll see you tomorrow. [music out]