On June 4, 2024, the French Newspaper L'Expresse wrote about the trend in the U.S. of singling out Jewish personalities in the arts by publishing lists of Jewish authors and their supporters, as well as musicians and others supporters of Israel so they "understand that there are consequences to their choices."
https://www.lexpress.fr/idees-et-debats/boycott-de-personnalites-sionistes-les-dessous-glacants-de-ces-listes-devenues-virales-GWTIJAWBSJF33NLYESQRCHULFU/
Below is an imperfect Google translation of the article:
Boycott
of “Zionist” personalities: the chilling underside of these lists that
have
gone viral
By
Alix L’Hospital
Conflict
in the Middle East. Since the start of the war in Gaza, lists of names of
celebrities to boycott have been circulating on social networks. The nomination
criteria reveal the meaning given to “Zionism” by their detractors…
Tell
me what a “Zionist” is, I’ll tell you what becomes of “anti-Zionism”… In the
2010s, “lists” designating “Zionists” were teeming above all on a few
conspiracy blogs with anti-Semitic tendencies. This was the case of Panamza,
a blog obsessed with Israel and the Jews, or of Egalité & Réconciliation,
the site of the far-right essayist Alain Soral, who published in 2019 a
“Diagram of the Left” mapping in particular alleged heavyweights of “Zionism”.
A reader struck by catalepsy a few years ago and awakened at the start of the war
in Gaza would probably be stunned: in 2024, there is nothing confidential or subversive
about these lists. They are available in portrait galleries on trendy Instagram
accounts (a publication, a name, a Studio Harcourt-style photo) and in TikTok
videos with an educational approach. Everything is “argued”, “sourced”, with a
view to “informing” and, ultimately, boycotting.
On
Instagram, Zionists in Music now has nearly 16,000 subscribers, just two
months after its first publication. By its own admission, the account
acknowledges in an introductory post that the evolving list is “mainly composed
of Jewish individuals”. But here, we promise, we do not condone anti-Semitism.
The idea being "to enlighten musicians about their position within this
industry and for them to recognize the impact of their choices", by
targeting those who have "publicly supported Zionism". By this, Zionists
in music means, for example, the fact of being subscribed to “Zionist accounts”
on social networks, such as Jewish lives matter, Jewish Life Now, or even
certain personalities committed against anti-Semitism such as Shai Davidai,
professor Israeli of Jewish faith at Columbia Business School.
This
account is far from an isolated case. In second place, we find Zionists in
films, more recent and on the verge of reaching 10,500 subscribers. Same
concept, same visual identity. In the "tools" made available by the
account there is also a call to "create more pages" of this kind,
that is to say targeting "Zionists" in other sectors of activity such
as government, mainstream media (MSM), academia, the army, banks, publishing,
justice, medicine... Because according to Zionists in films, "to defeat
Zionism, more Zionists need are unmasked and stigmatized. At the end of May, a
new account dedicated to “Zionists in sport” appeared on Instagram.
“Accomplices”
Jew
"Even
if they are not overtly targeted because they are Jewish, highlighting the
names of Jews who are not particularly politically engaged, but have, for
example, simply shown empathy for Israelis after the jihadist massacre of
October 7, called for peace, or have links with Jewish people committed to
Israel betrays a reconstruction of the anti-Jewish imagination, analyzes
Pierre-André Taguieff, philosopher, historian of ideas and honorary research
director at the CNRS. Behind this process, we read the trial of bad Jews,
"accomplices" Jews, having not given proof of their friendliness by
not denying Israel, or by not supporting strongly enough, to the liking of the
small prosecutors who establish these lists, the Palestinian cause. The
cleverness lies in the fact that these lists also include 'non-Jews'. Very
practical..."
These
accounts are only the emerging part of the phenomenon. On social networks,
lists in the form of directories circulate using an URL link to a table that can
be consulted by everyone. More discreet, but terribly effective. At the
beginning of May, a document entitled "is your favorite author a
zionist?" ("Is your favorite author a Zionist?"), listing nearly
200 names, for example went viral on Twitter. As we write these lines, several
Internet users are still consulting it, according to real-time data from the
shared document.
Everything
is neatly stored there. In blue: authors considered “pro-Palestine/
anti-Zionist”. In red, “pro-Israel/Zionist”. Significantly, most of those
targeted are authors of young adult fiction. Here again, the reasons for the
boycott are puzzling. The simple fact of having posted a message in support of
the Israelis the day after the October 7 attack is enough, for example, to make
Monica Murphy or Nicholas Sparks authors to be boycotted.
Anti-Zionism recoded into
humanism
But
there is more surprising: among the authors to be boycotted is also Rebecca
Yarros, queen of “romantasy”. Among the wrongs of the author of the Fourth Wing
phenomenon saga : being “married to a soldier”. As for SF specialist Pierce
Brown, he has certainly written about apartheid, but he reads "Henry
Kissinger, which doesn't help his case." Having fled Nazi persecution with
his family in the late 1930s, the former Secretary of State was a controversial
figure in American diplomacy during the Cold War, notably known for his role as
mediator between Israel and the Arab countries after the Yom Kippur War. For
its part, the Anti-Zionism recoded into humanism.
Better:
for being moved by the "horrible massacre of innocent civilians, first in Israel
and now, in a catastrophically disproportionate manner, in Gaza", Laini Taylor,
a novelist specializing in fantasy, is also given the same treatment. In reality,
not "understanding" Hamas is already suspect. This is what earned science
fiction author Michael Grant an “unclear” badge (a sort of “awaiting judgment”).
Too bad if the latter was very critical of the “racist and extremist” government
of “the crook Netanyahu”.
Fantasy
novelist Sarah J. Maas is accused of bringing to life characters expressing
"colonialist ideologies without specifying that it is morally
reprehensible". JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter saga ? A “Terf”
(acronym designating a radical feminist excluding trans people), “so the
discussion stops here”.
"For
the vast majority of Jews, 'Zionism' symbolizes emancipation and
self determination. But the notion has been the subject of an operation of
demonization similar to that which anti-Judaism has exercised against Jews.
Jews for centuries.
"Zionism
is thus on its way to becoming a synonym for everything that civilized people
rightly abhor: racism, colonialism, warmongering, oppression," explains
Rudy Reichstadt, political scientist, director of Conspiracy Watch and
co-director of a Political History of Anti-Semitism in France If, historically,
radical anti-Zionism was motivated by anti-Semitism, today, Rudy Reichstadt .
describes an anti-Zionism "recoded into humanism which guides a whole part
of the youth on the path of an anti-Semitism all the more dangerous as it
advances sure of its right and freed from any bad conscience".
“Zionists are demons”
“I
am on this list because I am Jewish, because I was born and raised in Israel,” novelist
Talia Carner, labeled in red (“Zionist”), explains to L’Express. The author has
had time to think about why she been pinned: her name has been circulating on
various lists since December. "My latest book, The boy with the star
tattoo, has been widely cited by 'antiZionists' who are calling for a boycott
of me," she explains. "This book deals with Israeli issues, but all
the events I describe in it are take place in France, first in 1946 (it is a
story about orphans after the Second World War), then in 1969. The
Israeli-Palestinian conflict is never mentioned… As a Jew born in Israel , my detractors
criticize me for not having written about the Palestinians – or insist that I
shouldn't have written this book at all."
On
Goodreads, a platform listing reader reviews, the author suffered waves of denigration
following her appearance on anti-Zionist lists. Among the comments regarding
her latest book, we can read: "Zionist propaganda that practically ignores
the nakba", "we do not support Zionist propaganda",
"Zionists are demons"... Today, Talia Carner is forced to remain
discreet where she travels, including during events open to the public.
Do
not trust the Englishness of most of these lists: France is far from being spared
by the phenomenon. On TikTok, some very influential Frenchspeaking accounts
invested in the concept very early on. Like Venomglazed, a young girl who loves
literature. In a video published on October 19 intended for its nearly 50,000
subscribers, it offered in music a list of authors who “support [the] ethnic
cleansing [of the Palestinian community]”, “proof” to support it. There we find
Sarah J. Maas, “who claims to have left Israel with great joy, nostalgia and pride”.
The proof is a screenshot: an article clearly mentioning the writer's Jewish
origins and her relationship to Judaism. Likewise, LJ Shen, New Adult romance
author whose “husband was enlisted in the Israeli armies and who proudly posts
her husband’s profession”, is singled out. Too bad if the screenshot put
forward to prove these statements dates from nine years ago. No matter, the
issue is not here.
--AL
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