The Holocaust: Not for sale
After a recent antisemitic tirade on the social media platform X by the musician and fashion designer Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, he launched a plain t-shirt emblazoned with a swastika – the only product for sale on his website, yeezy.com.
This is not a borderline case. There can be no debate about Ye: he clearly hates Jews.
This isn’t Ye’s first rampage against Jews. In 2022, Adidas was forced to end its partnership with him following our petition, which quickly gained over 180,000 signatures and helped the company to find the wherewithal to end its lucrative partnership.
Shopify has since shut down the store, but what are the repercussions in the world of entertainment when an antisemite tries to make a profit from the Holocaust?
Ye’s numerous, hate-filled posts included the declaration that he was a Nazi and support for Hitler. He also told his followers: “You have to put your Jews in their place and make them into your slaves.”
Whilst some have called out Ye for his repulsive behaviour, we need action, not just words.
The entertainment industry must stop working with him and hosting him at its events.
Taking a stand
In response, The Houmous Foundation has launched a website that mirrors the look and feel of Ye’s, with one important difference; instead of selling a t-shirt with a swastika, they are selling one with a Star of David. The Foundation is generously donating the profits of the sales to Campaign Against Antisemitism.
The t-shirts are available at not-yeezy.com.
As our Chief Executive, Gideon Falter, wrote for an article in LBC last week, “For the famously vocal world of entertainment, the hushed response to Ye declaring that he is a Nazi and that Jewish people should all be slaves is disturbing…It would be nice to see the eagerly virtue-signalling celebrities of the world wearing one — it might be easier since they seem to have trouble speaking out.”
It is shocking that anyone would want to make or wear an item of clothing that displays the symbol of those responsible for the industrial murder of six million innocent Jewish men, women and children.
Yet, this is the reality we face today.
From merchandise to artefacts
A Scottish auction house recently doubled down after pressure to cancel its sale of Nazi memorabilia last Wednesday.
McTear’s in Glasgow initially defended the sale, claiming: “It is important to note that these historical artefacts provide a tangible link to an important – albeit extremely dark– era in our history that should never be forgotten.”
As Stephen Silverman, our Director of Investigations and Enforcement, pointed out on BBC Reporting Scotland: “There is a place for items such as these and it is a museum or a Holocaust exhibition, where they can be displayed properly, responsibly and with the proper context.”
Following public outcry, McTear’s has now confirmed that it will no longer sell Third Reich items.
Labour: Out with the old
It’s not just businesses that are exploiting the Holocaust.
Recently, footage was published of Jeremy Corbyn comparing people in Gaza to survivors of concentration camps in 1945 in a blatant comparison of Israel to Nazis.
According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.
Back in 2018, when Mr Corbyn and his far-left faction of the then-Labour Party resisted the adoption of the Definition, we argued that it was because many of them believed that they had breached it in the past and would in the future if they expressed their real views. In the end, the pressure to adopt the Definition was too great because it was manifestly the right thing to do, particularly given the scandal of anti-Jewish racism under Mr Corbyn’s leadership.
Now, as a member of the new Alliance group and unshackled by the Definition or Labour’s rules, Mr Corbyn is once again able to say what he really thinks, and it isn’t pretty.
But he isn’t the only one crossing the line.
Andrew Gwynne, the MP for Gorton and Denton, was sacked from his position as Health Minister and suspended from Labour by Sir Keir Starmer after alleged WhatsApp messages were published.
In the exchange, Mr Gwynne allegedly described Jewish-American psychologist Marshall Rosenberg as sounding “too Jewish” and “too militaristic”. He also reportedly asked if Mr Rosenberg was in Mossad.
We commend the swift action taken by the Party against Mr Gwynne, but this incident highlights the urgency that is still needed in rooting out antisemitism.
We will be watching to see the outcome of the Party’s investigation.
This is just embarrassing
UN representative Francesca Albanese has a long history of inflammatory rhetoric about the Jewish community, but she has always denied antisemitism when faced with allegations.
In the latest chapter of Ms Albanese’s controversies, she was called out in an interview for appearing to endorse a social media post comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Her response? She outright denied that she made such a comparison, despite her response to the post being available on X for the world to see, adding that even if she did make such a comparison, it would not have been antisemitic.
Ms Albanese’s senior UN position continues to shame the organisation.
A case of extremism
A series of horrifying posts have been discovered on a social media account that appears to belong to Dr Rahmeh Aladwan, an orthopaedic doctor.
These posts would be appalling from anyone, let alone a doctor.
Healthcare professionals have a duty of care to ensure that all patients are looked after and treated equally, regardless of their background. Dr Aladwan’s social media activity, including a now-deleted video that mocks recently released hostages held by Hamas terrorists and encourages “Zios” to “come after” her, sends a clear message to her patients.
In a recent article, Sabrina Miller reported on several shocking social media posts allegedly shared by Dr Aladwan.
- In a reel entitled ‘Resist’, alongside an upside down red triangle icon, she wrote: “We never condemn the Palestinians. We back their struggle, including armed struggle.” In recent months, the inverted red triangle and its emoji variant have been used by some anti-Israel activists to signal support for proscribed terrorist organisations such as Hamas, inspired by the appearance of the symbol in Hamas propaganda videos to indicate targets for attack.
- Captioning a photo of a Hamas gunman: “A picture of AlQassam a day keeps the Z’s [Zionists] locked away.”
- In reference to the antisemitic Amsterdam pogrom of November last year, she posted a hand-drawn graph with the words “f*** around” along one axis, and “find out” along the other. The caption reads: “You provoke. You pushed. You prodded. You play victim. You deserve to pay. You parasitic pariah. Settlers should feel welcome nowhere. And if they tried that crap in the UK, they’ll be met with resistance too. Seems justice is found on the streets.”
An individual who openly expresses views like these has no place in the medical profession. Such contemptible behaviour is incompatible with the values we expect of doctors and nurses.
We will be writing to the General Medical Council to investigate urgently.
Do you know this man?
We are offering £5,000 for information leading to a conviction after an alleged assault in Manchester.
On Monday 3rd February, an identifiably Jewish man was walking in Exchange Square in Central Manchester. At approximately 13:30, Greater Manchester Police received reports of an assault. The incident has been recorded as a hate crime.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has been supporting the victim. He told us that the alleged incident occurred on his way back from attending a prayer service.
“I was hurrying along checking my phone when I felt someone running up behind me,” he told us. “In the split second before, I gripped my phone tightly in case someone would try to grab it and did not have a chance to protect myself. I was then hit extremely forcefully with what felt like a bottle around the right side of my face, instantly shattering my glasses and knocking me off balance. I thought I could have been blinded in my right eye, put my hand to my eye and saw blood coming from the area.”
In a photo seen by us, the victim’s eye is swollen shut and severely bruised.
“My immediate reaction was to get away before being further attacked, and I ran across the road to a crowd of people shouting for help,” he continued. “A couple of bystanders pointed out who had just attacked me and where he was heading, whereupon I followed with one of the members of the public. The assailant then jumped onto a nearby tram. I had just called 999 and told them I had been attacked and was visibly Jewish, and that the suspect was on a specific tram that was going to head off shortly. They told me not to get on the tram and they would follow it.”
However, the victim was not convinced that anyone at Victoria – the next tram station – had been alerted. He said the assailant got off the tram at the next stop and fled the scene, which has apparently been substantiated by subsequent CCTV footage.
The victim continued: “At that point, I was literally stood around on my own, no support and just waiting for help to arrive. I couldn’t see well. Police turned up within ten minutes to see me and I was treated by a paramedic who also arrived at the scene and flushed my eye with saline to wash away any fragments.”
One member of the public did get on the tram but returned to the site a short while later. He recounted to the victim the alleged attacker had shouted that he was “a murderer” and that he was “responsible for the war in Gaza”.
The victim said: “I didn’t get a clear view of the attacker given my glasses were smashed and I was in a daze and could not recall what he was shouting clearly. I was taken to the police station and gave a statement that took a couple of hours, which was still given whilst I was reeling from the blow. I then went to get scans of my eye for damage, as advised by the paramedic.”
He was informed that he had abrasions in his eye. He had also begun noting black dots in his vision, which still remain today.
“The bruising spread all around my eye and I sustained cuts to my upper cheek and side of my face,” he added. “I’ve since been to the GP for nausea and dizziness and a second scan of the eye. I’m apprehensive walking around and now get nervous anyone could attack me at any time. I remain very traumatised by what happened despite the physical injuries healing slowly.”
The victim said that now, his main concern is that it has been nearly two weeks since the alleged incident and the suspect remains unidentified.
Anyone with information should contact police on 101 quoting incident number 001613 of 03/02/2025 or e-mail us at [email protected].
500 days
Today marks 500 days since Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attack on Israel on 7th October 2023, in which it took over 250 hostages.
As we begin to see the release of the hostages, we are learning more and more about the unimaginable conditions in which they were held.
More than 70 of them are still being held captive in those conditions.
Bring them home.
