At least 30 antisemitic attacks across the US have been tied to the extreme remarks by rapper Kanye West—or “Ye” as he now calls himself—over the last few months, according to a report released Monday by the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. Kanye started his verbal onslaught against Jewish people late last year, and since then, dozens of incidents of vandalism, assaults, bullying, hate speech, and more have occurred, all in the name of Ye.
There is also an organized social media campaign aimed at amplifying Kanye’s hate-filled message—a message that is often accompanied by swastikas and antisemitic slang.
Since October, when Kanye first started his tirade against Jewish people—in “power” in Hollywood, in government, and elsewhere—there have been more than 10,000 tweets containing “Ye is right”—with a reach of more than 6 million followers.
In January, Groypers, a white supremacist group, started touring college campuses with the message, “Ye is right, change my mind.” (Just goes to show you that “the enemy of my enemy” concept goes beyond the Middle East—does anyone notice that a WHITE supremacist group is on the side of a BLACK man—what do they have in common except that they BOTH hate Jewish people?).
So far, the group has spoken on five campuses in Alabama and Florida. Under the banner of “defending Ye,” Groypers members have been telling university students that the Holocaust was a hoax, anti-Jewish conspiracies are true, and the Nazis were great people. Not your average TED talk—or maybe it is, these days?
After two of the college events, social media interest in Ye spiked. Posts linked to extremist groups, including white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who met former US President Donald Trump (and now presidential candidate once again), along with Ye, last fall.
Hate speech has also turned to hate in action. In California, a vandal drew swastikas and wrote “Kanye West is right” and “Kill all Jews” in a high school bathroom. Vandals also graffitied a Jewish day school in California. In Michigan, a man threatened worshippers outside a synagogue. And in New York, a Jewish man was physically assaulted as his attackers yelled, “Kanye 2024.”
Goyim Defense League, NatSoc Florida, and White Lives Matter have flown banners above freeways, projected hate-filled messages at a football game, and passed out antisemitic flyers in California, Florida, and New York, in support of Ye’s message.
The American Jewish Committee released a survey on Monday reporting that four out of ten Jewish people in America feel less safe than they did a year ago.
