Kanye West fuels hate

Jews are somehow meant to be more nefarious than others, wielding great power while being seen as inferior and weaker than the people around them.

Throughout history, this same conspiracy theory has cropped up in various forms.

Religious anti-Semitism portrays Jews as “Christ killers”, evolving over time into the anti-Semitic canard of “blood libel”, in which Jews were accused of murdering Christians or other non-Christian children. Jews and using their blood in religious rituals.

Economic, social and ideological anti-Semitism present Jews as an underhanded and subversive force on the national or international stage, deliberately undermining the fabric of civilization for their own benefit, whether through war, political influence or control. financial. The fabricated text, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, played an important role in furthering the spread of such a belief across Europe. The roots of the Holocaust can be found in a powerful combination of these conspiratorial fantasies and concepts of racial “purity.”

The latest form – so-called “contemporary” anti-Semitism – attempts to rename this ancient hatred by hiding behind the false banner of “anti-Zionist” ideology, “Israel” often being a convenient synonym for “Jews”.

Again and again, these conspiracy theories and tropes raise their heads. They can be seen in Kanye West’s recent claims that Jews control the media and the financial world; claims by high profile politicians and commentators that Jews have “hypnotized” the world or are controlling the weather with space lasers; and in violent attacks targeting Jews in the Middle East, Europe and on the streets of America.

In his excellent book,Suspicious minds: why we believe in conspiracy theories,Rob Brotherton paints the following “picture” of a conspiracy theory:

“The prototypical conspiracy theory is an unanswerable question; it assumes that nothing is as it seems; it portrays conspirators as supernaturally skilled; and as exceptionally evil; it is grounded in anomaly hunting; and it is ultimately irrefutable. .”

And it is the final characteristic of conspiracy theories – their ultimate irrefutability – that makes anti-Semitism so viciously enduring.

Consider West a high-profile example. In recent days, he’s managed to push almost every anti-Semitic trope in the book, including that Jews control the media and the financial system, that Jews hold power over information, and that all of these pillars of power are exploited against their collective enemies.

And those who have championed West’s definitional anti-Semitism have relied on one of the central tenets of Brotherton’s conspiracy theories — their irrefutability — to obscure or deflect accusations of wrongdoing.

This is why those who point the finger at West’s anti-Semitism are not called incorrect, but “dishonest.” That’s why Jews were blamed for West’s supposed cancellation by JP Morgan. That’s why Jews were blamed for West’s supposed cancellation on social media, and all after West cemented the irrefutable of his own claims by implying that Jews invented cancel culture.

Anti-Semitism can only exist alongside an immutable philosophy “Heads I win, tails you lose”.

If there is no response to West’s repeated and shameless anti-Jewish bigotry, it proves he was not anti-Semitic. “Heads, I win.”

If there is a response to West’s repeated and shameless anti-Jewish bigotry, then it is further evidence of diabolical Jewish control pulling the strings from the shadows. “Tail, you lose.”

Ian Haworth is the host of “Off Limits with Ian Haworth.” Follow him on Twitter @ighaworth.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.