Antisemitism has acquired a remarkably convenient disclaimer. Say something about Jews, echoing antisemitism's oldest tropes; raise your hands in defense and explain that you are merely criticizing Israel. At the risk of joining the chorus of “duh” disclaimers, let’s be clear—criticism of Israel is not antisemitism, and treating the two as interchangeable would make any serious discussion of Israeli policy nearly impossible.
And yet the distinction has become an alibi when the language at issue has little, if anything, to do with critiquing a government and instead starts sounding like a retelling of the old story of fabulously wealthy Jews controlling media, politics and public opinion from behind the scenes. The puppet masters of worldly culture. Hollywood's Mark Ruffalo has unwittingly become a poster boy for this sort of comportment, with the latest example coming from his comments about Larry Ellison and other figures connected to the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros.
Without simply repeating every trope the actor has been accused of invoking, the Marvel star's argument is worth dissecting because Ruffalo’s words have always carried a certain weight, and he does not seem at all convinced of the accusations of antisemitism trailing behind them. What is perhaps more intellectually provocative, though, is the letter that more than 170 Jewish artists, writers, academics and faith leaders have now signed, defending Ruffalo and insisting that comments he has made were not antisemitic. Funnily enough—or perhaps sadly enough—their defense ends up reaching for some of the same imagery at the center of the accusation.
The September 1 letter, titled “Enough!,” calls allegations of antisemitism against Ruffalo an “outrageous smear campaign” and condemns what it describes as the “weaponization” against people connecting Palestinian suffering with threats to American liberties. The letter's signatories include Joel Coen, Hannah Einbinder, Tony Kushner, Ilana Glazer, Todd Haynes, Gabor Maté and Holocaust historian Amos Goldberg, alongside rabbis, professors, filmmakers and writers. The moral force of that roster is clear: More than 170 Jews are saying, in effect, "we recognize antisemitism, and this is not it." Except that Jewish identity cannot make an argument immune to containing an antisemitic trope any more than criticism of Israel can automatically make an argument antisemitic.
The logic has to work both ways. A stereotype does not change its character according to the identity of the person repeating it. The question is what the words actually say.
In its defense of Ruffalo, the letter uses printing space to describe the Paramount-Warner deal as part of a “larger project of tech-driven domination.” It warns that the merger would increase “oligarchic control of our media,” then links Larry Ellison to Gaza, Tony Blair, TikTok, artificial intelligence and surveillance technology. Ellison, it says, is consolidating control over “what we watch and how we watch it,” while he and his “corrupt cohort” will also be watching everyone else. Finally, it places the “Ellisons” alongside Musk and Thiel among oligarchs it says are “working to dismantle our democracy.” Jews, media control, political influence, surveillance and domination of the wider world.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
