Orthodox Jewish influencer Sarah Haskell opens up about antisemitic comments

Sarah Haskell, an online Orthodox Jewish influencer and artist with over 200,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where she opened up about the extent of the online antisemitism that she faces and the impact that it has on her.

This podcast can be listened to here, or watched here.

While Ms Haskell, creator of the online account ‘thatrelatablejew’, stated that she finds tremendous meaning in her work, she also noted that “the negative side is mostly antisemitic comments.”

She continued: “Every time I see these comments, it shocks me, because we’re in 2023, so you would think that antisemitism like this doesn’t exist anymore, but it very much does, unfortunately.”

Ms Haskell revealed that she will get comments about the Holocaust, as well as comments condemning Israel, even on posts that do not mention the country whatsoever.

“It’s just because I’m openly Jewish that they somehow feel I am the spokesperson for all Jewish people, when I rarely talk about politics on my page.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the State of Israel” is an example of antisemitism.

She added that other comments involved “People trying to make fun of my appearance, like a Jewish nose, or saying I don’t look Jewish enough because I was born with blonde hair. Having all these stereotypes.”

In response, Ms Haskell often filters out comments. However, this requires her to manually approve each comment herself, meaning that she has to sift through hundreds of antisemitic comments personally.

“It just pushes me to keep doing what I’m doing, because if I was so heavily affected by every single comment that I was getting, I would not be doing what I’m doing today,” she says. “I just kind of brush it off and keep going along, because what they’re trying to do is silence Jewish voices, so by me stopping, that’s letting those commenters win. I’m just very proud to be Jewish online and will continue to be that positive representation.” 

When asked what advice she would give aspiring Jewish content creators, Ms Haskell said: “I would say you really have to think about it before you do it. Being online is fantastic. I love representing the Jewish people. I love being a positive representation and showing Jewish life, but you have to have a certain mental toughness because you will face antisemitism. Unfortunately, you just will. Especially if you’re being openly Jewish online. 

“My advice is, if you’re going to do it, be prepared, be mentally ready, and have a game plan of how you will handle those situations when they come up so that it doesn’t mentally affect you as hard.”

Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox.

Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, television personality Robert Rinder, writer Eve Barlow, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe, and actor Eddie Marsan.