by Ram ben Ze'ev (Conservative Values)
I am Jewish.
Kanye West (Ye, whatever) is an anti-Semite, but really, he's a Jew-Hater. Most of the people who are called anti-Semites love Arabs, so the term isn't accurate. They just hate Jews, so I use Jew-Hater to describe them.
I have never bought anything that he sells and I have no plans to change that position. My opinion isn't based solely on the fact that Kanye West is a Jew-Hater, as much as that he practices idolatry and so I wouldn't support him, even if he didn't hate Jews.
My policy on this matter is that if you need to tell me that you're NOT a Jew-Hater, then, you probably are.
And this hatred for Jews is not reserved exclusively for non-Jews. I know many self-hating Jews; Jews who hate the State of Israel and wish it harm and Jews who frankly, hate Jews.
That said, I don't think that Kanye West or any other Jew-Hater, whether they're Jewish or not, should be 'cancelled' or otherwise prevented from voicing [their] opinion, whether that's [their] hateful filth or anything else.
Frankly, I'd rather be able to keep my eyes on what they're doing [and saying] rather than to have them operating in the shadows. I hold the same opinion about Holocaust deniers, and my great-grandmother was murdered by the Nazis in Hungary. Free speech is free speech. Say whatever you want and I will as well.
But I really dislike this tendency of the Jewish Community, and others, who garner our approval, to call for the cancelling of these people, because BDS works both ways, right? So, to be clear, in my opinion, Kanye West is a Jew-Hater. I never liked him. My unsolicited advice is don’t buy his shoes, or his clothes, or his music or use Parler, if he does eventually buy the platform, but why do [we] need to tell or coerce other people not to? That seems sort of hypocritical to me.
Just sayin'.
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Bill White (Ram ben Ze'ev) is CEO of WireNews and Executive Director of Hebrew Synagogue