(Jewish Group) Jon Stewart is not our 'spokesjew' -- he normalized hate speech [View all]

[Behind the Aegis]

Jon Stewart gained praise and acclaim for his “empathetic” and “thoughtful” interview with Stephen Colbert on the “The Late Show” Tuesday night. He discussed recent antisemitic rhetoric from celebrities such as Kanye West and Kyrie Irving, as well as a monologue delivered by his close friend Dave Chappelle.

The “Saturday Night Live” monologue Chappelle delivered, responding to West and Irving’s conspiracy theories, was quickly excoriated by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, who tweeted that he was disturbed to see the show “not just normalize but popularize” antisemitism.”

Stewart’s interview was meant to be a sort of salve from our “spokesjew” (Stewart’s words), addressing what has not only been a painful and scary experience for Jews, but also one that has disproportionately affected the Black community — the focus of the discussion has largely been on three Black celebrities — and largely erased Black Jews.

But Stewart profoundly failed, and further normalized antisemitism and racism in the process. He did this through surprisingly facile, empty arguments largely based in conjecture rather than reality.

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I hate to say it, but... ! I am very disappointed in Stewart! He has been the voice for 9-11 rescuers and veterans, perhaps he could take that same passion and anger and defend Jews, not make excuses for those engaged in bigotry.

The opposing view from the same magazine: Jon Stewart is right about how to fight antisemitism — and should maybe be our ‘spokesjew’

Personally, Grisar needs to read the article from his fellow Jew and opinion columnist!