It is no secret how following the October 7 atrocities, a wave of antisemitism has been unleashed. Open season has been declared on the Jews once again, in what can be looked at as adding insult to injury.
To add even more insult to injury, we have also seen quite a bit of cowardice when it comes to confronting this Jew-hated.
Exhibit A: the gutless responses of UPenn President Liz Magill, Harvard President Claudine Gay, and MIT President Sally Kornbluth to New York Republican Representative Elise Stefanik’s question if “calling for the genocide of Jews” is against the universities’ respective codes of conduct on bullying or harassment.
Sadly, these university presidents are not alone in their cowardice. Take British Airways, who have delayed plans to add a Jewish sitcom to its flights – because G-d-forbid the antisemites get upset.
British Airways has paused plans to stream a Jewish sitcom on its flights owing to alleged concerns it could trigger a backlash in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
The airline delayed plans to add the comedy series Hapless, which has been shown on Netflix and Amazon Prime, to its in-flight entertainment system to avoid any appearance of taking sides in the ongoing conflict.
The satire follows misadventures of a London-based cynical journalist for a fictional Jewish newspaper and has been called the British version of the US sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm.
A scene from Hapless
British Airways in August agreed to buy the first season with plans to make it available for passengers to watch for six months from December.
Gary Sinyor, the writer and director, was informed of the decision by Spafax Media, an international media specialist hired by airlines to secure licensing rights to movies and television shows for in-flight entertainment.
The award-winning director, who is Jewish, claimed he was told that British Airways did not want to “take sides” in the conflict by screening the six-episode season and wanted to delay the deal until after the war was over.
An email sent from Spafax to Mr Sinyor on Oct 13, seen by The Telegraph, said: “BA Press office have asked us to review content on board and being booked in relation to Israel/Palestine and the conflict currently happening. Their preference is to remain as neutral in these situations as possible.
“As a result we’ve been asked to remove Hapless from the December line-up but are very happy to book this once the conflict dies down.”
The filmmaker has since repeatedly challenged this decision, describing it as “nonsensical”.
Mr Sinyor told The Telegraph: “The series has nothing to do with Israel-Palestine. I mean, other than that the Jewish people live in Israel and that Israel is a Jewish state, it has nothing to do with it.
“I think what it shows is a fear of being perceived as being pro Israel just because it’s got Jewish characters in it.”
I deliberately said “antisemites” because who else would get upset by a Jewish sitcom unrelated to Israel?
Meanwhile, over in New Zealand we have yet another example of capitulation to the antisemitic bullies. Via an email sent to me from Israellycool reader Andrew, from the NZ Free Speech Union:
Yesterday the Free Speech Union were alerted to NZME, the publishers of the New Zealand Herald, turning down a proposed paid advertisement by Shalom New Zealand (a support group for New Zealand Israelis) on the basis that in order for the advertisement/public letter to be accepted they would need to fund security for the newspaper’s headquarters due to the protests might result.
Putting aside the disturbing situation that New Zealand media outlets now fear violent relation by political activists, it sets a terribly dangerous precedent that the victims of political abuse must pay extra “security fees” to have their right to participate in public dialog.
I wanted to know what the advertisement was. I wondered whether it might have been deliberately provocative or offensive. But nothing could be further from the truth. Take a look for yourself:
I would have thought this advertisement perfectly reasonable in a free and democratic society where people can (and do!) have differing views on the Israel-Palestine conflict. But NZME insist that they will need to employ extra security for their offices if they publish the letter, even as an advertisement.
I am sure you will appreciate the disturbing irony. Israeli-expats are wanting to express their concern that New Zealand is no longer safe for Jews (in our country’s newspaper of record) and the NZME team have said the cost for extra security to keep their offices safe is prohibitive so the advert cannot run!
This isn’t an issue of censorship by the media, it’s a case of media being censored by the mob. The fact NZME are taking the mob threats so seriously should send a cold shiver down the backs of those who want our media to be free, frank, and unapologetic in tackling tough subjects.
When you appease bullies, it only emboldens them to bully even more. Because, results. That is precisely what we are seeing with Hamas, and this is what we are also now seeing with their supporters.
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
