Ye sings into a microphone. Blue light is shining on him and he is wearing a watch and a sweatshirt

What You Need to Know About Kanye West’s Recent Comments About Jewish People

This article has been updated to reflect ongoing developments.  Ye, formerly Kanye West, has placed himself amid yet another cycle of conspiracy theories — this time against Jewish people.  This month, Ye—a well-known rapper, business owner, and cultural icon— made several antisemitic comments in television clips and on social media regarding Jewish “control” of media and finance. The comments have caused backlash from celebrities and Twitter users, both Jewish and not. A pioneer of “introspective, melodic rap music,” according to Complex, a pop culture media outlet, Ye, who is also an artist, entrepreneur and ex of Kim Kardashian, has a large and loyal following and a net worth of approximately $1.8 billion.  Ye’s platform is large. He has 18.2 million followers on Instagram and 31.5 million on Twitter. In 2015, he topped TIME Magazine’s List of 100 Most Influential...

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Glenn Beck’s Wet Hot Israeli Summer

By Adina Rosenthal Glenn Beck is making quite a splash in the Jewish state this summer. This August, Beck will host “Restoring Courage,” a three-part event that Beck’s website describes as “an opportunity to demonstrate to the world that Israel does not stand alone.” The first event will be for American Christians “to get the Christian community in America to wake up and start standing up .” The second will be more explicitly political in nature, purportedly including Senator Joe Lieberman, GOP presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Herman Cain, and two other presidential candidates yet to be revealed. The final August 24 event that, according to the Jerusalem Post, “would be attended by more than 30 American national political figures, 70 international politicians and citizen delegations from 100 countries around the world, including Bahrain” will be...

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Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly and the Jewish Question

By Symi Rom-Rymer Perhaps the winter weather is making people a little crazy or perhaps liberals, fed up with current political narrative, are just itching to remove the gloves.  Whatever the reason, a willingness to venture onto Republican turf has been on the rise these past few weeks.  First, there was President Obama who, in a riveting piece of political theater, took on the House Republicans during their annual retreat in Baltimore.  Then, just a few days ago, Jon Stewart appeared on Fox as a guest of Bill O’Reilly. (Can someone explain to me why he is so popular?  Political views aside, he comes across as so condescending and self-righteous—why do viewers find that appealing?  Or is he just that way when non-Republicans are on his show?  If someone could let me know without my having to...

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