With many celebrities finally speaking out against antisemitism – well, at least the kind being disseminated by someone on the Right – now is a good time to remind ourselves what a real ally looks like.
NBA Hall of Fame Kareem Abdul Jabbar has consistently spoken out against antisemitism and blasted his fellow celebrities who have remained silent. He has shown himself to be a friend of the Jewish community. He has not demonized Israel while pretending to be our ally; years ago, he visited Israel and made a special effort to meet with then Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, who had been liberated as a young child from Buchenwald by a close friend of his father’s.
Kareem uses his celebrity to try and build bridges between our communities.
And now Kareem has been honored at the annual Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Spirit of Hope event.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was honored at the annual Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Spirit of Hope event in Toronto before he addressed a crowd of 1,200 about his longstanding work in advocating for social justice and human rights, being a steadfast ally in the fight against anti-Semitism and building bridges between communities.
Abdul-Jabbar began his remarks by echoing his recent blog post strongly condemning the repeated anti-Semitic comments of US rapper Kanye West. He also addressed the reactions he’s received for his criticism of West and of anti-Semitism in general. “The principal lesson is we can never go to sleep, we can never stop being vigilant and let bad things to fester,” said Abdul-Jabbar.
“I get condemnation from people who don’t want to see any progress, and I get support from people who understand that what people like Kanye West have to say is intolerable,” Abdul-Jabbar told the audience. “We can’t have our people who set the standards and who everybody wants to emulate… talking like that. That’s not what we’re supposed to be about, especially in America where we say that all men are created equal.”
He also spoke out about the delayed condemnations from celebrities and companies in response to West’s anti-Semitism, saying, “Look what happened in the time it took for all the people who ended up condemning Kanye, look how long it took for them to get around to saying what they had to say. In the meantime, Jewish kids were intimidated and bullied and had to deal with a whole lot of violence or violent thoughts directed at them because someone like Kanye West says it’s okay. It’s not okay.”
Note to other celebrities: be like Mike Kareem.
