Avi Benlolo: The backlash against Kanye West's antisemitism should now be directed at the UN

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As vile as Kanye West’s antisemitic tirade has been, it has managed to bring antisemitism out of the shadows and caused many people and businesses to take a stand against it.

West, now known as Ye, miscalculated and this led to his downfall in the business community and beyond. Even his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, a major social media influencer, told her followers: “I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.”

After weeks of wrangling, businesses finally began severing their ties with Ye this week, after Adidas, which partnered with Ye on the Yeezy brand, terminated its relationship with him. The company said in a press release that, “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”

Admittedly, I am disappointed that Adidas had the audacity to say in its very next breath that its decision was measured in dollars and cents: “This is expected to have a short-term negative impact of up to €250 million on the company’s net income in 2022 given the high seasonality of the fourth quarter.” This line should bring shame on the German company whose founders had ties to the Nazi party.

Of all the statements made by various celebrities distancing themselves from Ye, the most admirable was written by NFL superstar Aaron Donald and his wife Erica: “Our family has made the decision to part ways with Donda Sports. The recent comments and displays of hate and antisemitism are the exact opposite of how we choose to live our lives and raise our children. We find them to be irresponsible and go against everything we believe in as a family.”

Their statement was heartfelt, meaningful and boils the issue down to how we educate our children and treat each other on a human level. Unlike Adidas, they did not discuss how their decision would affect them financially. The Donalds understand that, “As parents and members of society, we felt a responsibility to send a clear message that hateful words and actions have consequences and that we must do better as human beings.”

Unfortunately, there are also those who have used Ye’s words to further incite hate. A white nationalist group standing on a highway overpass this past weekend in Los Angeles held up banners that read: “Honk if you know Kanye is right about the Jews.” In a horrific picture circulating the internet, members of the group are seen standing above the banner performing the Nazi salute.

It certainly doesn’t help that the United Nations continues to provide cover for those who are intent on spreading hatred against the Jewish people. While Ye was being called out for his antisemitism, the UN’s commission of inquiry into alleged Israeli human rights abuses, which would be better labelled the “commission of inquisition against Israel,” released yet another false and biased report that slandered and defamed the Jewish state.

Its claims are unworthy of repeating on these decent pages. Instead, my organization, the Abraham Global Peace Initiative, has released a thoughtful critique of the report, authored by Henry Kopel, who served as a United States federal prosecutor for 30 years in the areas of terrorism and crimes against humanity. The report can be found on our website, agpiworld.com.

But what is worth noting is that last summer, one of its commissioners, Miloon Kothari, made antisemitic remarks referring to the “Jew lobby” and questioning Israel’s very inclusion in the United Nations. As in the case of Ye, these remarks sparked accusations of antisemitism and calls for his resignation and the disbandment of an obviously biased and corrupt commission. Kothari apologized, but the integrity of the UN and its commission of inquiry had been compromised.

As the fallout from Ye’s antisemitic comments show, free and democratic societies can counter hatred through the chorus of voices that speak out against it and the companies and individuals who shun those who spread such vile messages.

Unfortunately, these sorts of checks are noticeably absent in the UN. The UN Human Rights Council, which oversees the commission of inquiry, is made up of mostly tyrannical antisemitic regimes that have placed Israel on the organization’s permanent agenda for scrutiny and abuse. This has come at a tragic cost to the UN and its agencies. The Ye scandal has helped expose the antisemitic rot at the heart of the United Nations.

National Post

Avi Abraham Benlolo is the founding chairman and CEO of the Abraham Global Peace Initiative.