New Report Details Systemic Antisemitism in US Cultural Sphere

A new report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reveals a significant rise in antisemitism within the United States' cultural sector, impacting museums, the publishing industry, and the art world. The report indicates that Jewish and Israeli artists are facing systematic exclusion, with their works being downplayed or narratives altered.

According to the ADL, many museums are marginalizing Jewish and Israeli collections, integrating them into broader narratives that obscure their specific identities. In the publishing industry, Jewish, Israeli, or Zionist themes and characters are reportedly suppressed, with authors facing blacklisting and exclusion from literary events. The ADL interviewed dozens of writers and professionals for this part of the report.

Author and photographer Elissa R. Rosenhak described this as "literary antisemitism," which she stated does not manifest with swastikas but rather through institutional silence, shifting standards, and community exclusion, particularly amplified in the climate following October 7th.

The art world has seen at least 65 documented incidents across 41 locations in the US involving the cancellation, harassment, and silencing of Jewish and Israeli artists. Protests have escalated to preventing performances and disrupting shows. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt stated that Jewish artists' performances are being canceled, they are blacklisted, and pushed out of American cultural life, adding that the extent of the problem was more severe than previously understood.

Greenblatt concluded that Jewish and Israeli artists are being harassed and excluded, and that the cultural and art sectors must address this discrimination against Israelis before Jewish voices are completely silenced.