antisemitism
Page: 2
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Edward Berthelot / Getty
Any plans that Ye aka Kanye West might have on visiting Australia might be on hold as officials from that nation publicly suggest that he would be banned over his past anti-Semitic behavior.
According to reports, the artist has reportedly been eager to visit the country in recent days. The reasoning behind the potential trip is to visit the family of his new wife, Bianca Censori who grew up in Melbourne. This has sparked conversation among members of the government who have suggested that Ye would be denied entry due to his recent anti-Semitic comments.
Related Stories
“People like that who’ve applied for visas to get into Australia in the past have been rejected,” Minister for Education Jason Clare said in an interview with local network Channel Nine. “I expect that if he does apply he would have to go through the same process and answer the same questions that they did.” This was echoed by opposition leader Peter Dutton, who had been minister of immigration under the previous government. “His anti-Semitic comments are disgraceful, his conduct [and] his behavior are appalling,” Dutton told 3AW radio. “He’s not a person of good character and the minister has the ability to stop somebody coming into our country of bad character.”
Peter Wertheim, co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, met with the rest of the council members on Tuesday (Jan. 24th) to issue in writing their argument that they are opposed to Ye visiting. “We had a sympathetic hearing,” Wertheim said to reporters. “We’ve made the case that this particular individual does not meet the character test and that it would be in the national interest not to grant him a visa and we set out our reasons in some detail in that letter.”
There is precedent for Ye to be denied a visa by the Australian government over his comments and behavior, which falls under the purview of “good character”. Far-right figures have been denied visas, such as Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes who was banned in 2018 after a public outcry including a petition signed by 81,000 people. According to the Australian Citizenship Policy and the Migrant Act of 1958, “good character” is defined as behaving in an ethical manner and by the rules of the nation’s society once a visitor arrives and during their stay.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Nina Westervelt / Getty
Earlier this month, The View host Whoopi Goldberg addressed past comments about race and the Holocaust.
According to Deadline, Whoopi Goldberg made the comments while doing press for the movie Till where she plays the mother of Mamie Till-Mobley.
“My best friend said, ‘Not for nothing is there no box on the census for the Jewish race. So that leads me to believe that we’re probably not a race,’” she said in the interview with the Sunday Times, which was published during Hanukkah.
The comments were a callback to comments the Sister Act actor made at the top of 2022 where she said that “Nazis saw Jews as a race.”
Sheadded, “Yes, but that’s the killer, isn’t it? The oppressor is telling you what you are. Why are you believing them? They’re Nazis. Why believe what they’re saying?”
She continued: “It wasn’t originally [about race]. Remember who they were killing first. They were not killing racial; they were killing physical. They were killing people they considered to be mentally defective. And then they made this decision.”
After continued pushback from the Anti-Defamation League, Goldberg issued a statement on the subject saying, “Recently while doing press in London, I was asked about my comments from earlier this year. I tried to convey to the reporter what I had said and why, and attempted to recount that time. It was never my intention to appear as if I was doubling down on hurtful comments, especially after talking with and hearing people like rabbis and old and new friends weighing in.”
She added, “I’m still learning a lot and believe me, I heard everything everyone said to me. I believe that the Holocaust was about race, and I am still as sorry now as I was then that I upset, hurt and angered people.”
Goldberg concluded, “My sincere apologies again, especially to everyone who thought this was a fresh rehash of the subject. I promise it was not. In this time of rising antisemitism, I want to be very clear when I say that I always stood with the Jewish people and always will. My support for them has not wavered and never will.”