Creativity amid anti-Israel hostility

How are Australian Jewish creatives faring in the world of arts which has become increasingly hostile to Zionism? That is a question being discussed within the community including at recent panels in Sydney at Limmud Oz, and in Melbourne at Blake Street Synagogue on June 11.

In Melbourne, the panellists included acclaimed author and writing teacher Lee Kofman and talented musician/artist/filmmaker Anita Lester.

Kofman and Lester were included in the 600 Jewish creatives who were doxxed in February for being members of a WhatsApp group that Kofman created as a support group for Australian Jewish artists post October 7.

The private WhatsApp chat was leaked and prominent figures in the arts scene released Jewish members’ private details, calling on followers to boycott their work.

Nearly six months on from the doxxing, Kofman told The AJN that it continued to impact her both emotionally and financially, tarnishing her professional reputation.

“I was called a ‘genocidal maniac Zionist’ online, had people asking my friends whether I work for Mossad … had some work cancelled and once had to teach writing with security,” she revealed.

Despite her own harrowing experiences, she acknowledges that others had faced even graver abuse, including death threats.

Kofman paints a bleak picture of the Australian arts community, stating that sadly it is “more antisemitic than I ever suspected”.

She observes an instinctive bias among many in the arts sector, who automatically view Israel negatively.

Lee Kofman.

“Some arts organisations now make it their ‘policy’ to only give public platform to anti-Zionist artists, which automatically excludes at least 75 per cent of Jews,” Kofman explained.

Despite these challenges, Kofman believes that the current atmosphere of heightened antisemitism could paradoxically give rise to a new wave of Jewish creativity in Australia.

“From what I see among Jewish creatives, myself included, we are now making art with a particularly acute sense of urgency. We’re creating, so to speak, for our lives,” she said. However, she remains uncertain whether these works will reach broader audiences due to the prevailing exclusionary attitudes.

Kofman thinks that being an outsider can enhance an artist’s perspective, allowing them to notice things more freshly and attentively.

Yet, she contends that Jewish artists who are not outspoken anti-Zionists have never truly been insiders.

“Australian audiences are far more willing to embrace Jewish art/literature than our fellow artists,” she said.

Kofman was born in Russia and moved to Israel as a teenager. She has lived in Australia for 25 years, but her feelings about her adopted home are now mixed.

While she continues to feel a deep connection with the general Australian population and maintains supportive relationships within the literary community, her view of Australian arts institutions has soured.

“My love affair with Australian arts institutions, who haven’t called out the currently skyrocketing antisemitism and, in many instances, actually facilitated it, might be over, or at least over until there might be some structural changes in place.”

The rise in openly antisemitic sentiments among prominent writers and the support they receive has left Kofman feeling alienated from the Australian literary tribe she once considered her own.

Similarly, Lester feels that the culture of doxxing has negatively impacted her career.

When the October 7 massacre occurred, Lester’s mother and brother were in Israel, and the lack of outcry from the local arts community led her to make around a dozen social media posts and the reaction was swift.

“Very quickly I became one of the faces of who to target in the arts community in Australia, by anti-Zionist communities.

“I had to just sort of roll with the punches around this online vitriol against me which became a lot worse after the doxxing when my mother’s business was involved and my brother’s photo was splashed all over the internet as being an evil Zionist.”

Lester feels her public support for Israel has also negatively impacted her career aspirations. “I certainly have not booked any work outside of the Jewish community at all since October 7. The one show I played had to get extra security because of the threats they were getting.

“The comparison is that pre-October 7, I would get a call at least once a week at least, to play a show,” she added. “I am a bit of a liability now in the music scene.”

Lester had been working on a feature film for three years, which was focused on being Jewish in Australia, and funding has been withdrawn over the last six months. “I have been assured by various parties that this has never been a cultural decision, but in the mix of everything else, it’s very hard to believe that.”

She has also lost many friends in the arts world. “The haemorrhaging of friendships has been the most pointed and obvious response to what’s happened … I’ve had friends say the most vile things to me, including that Jews run the entertainment industry so I have nothing to worry about.”

Lester feels that the backlash she has experienced has been a “hard pill to swallow” given how hard she worked to get ahead in her career. “I don’t know where I fit in and that’s something to mourn for sure.”

Despite these challenges Lester says she is standing her ground. “Resilience and storytelling and trying to make it work within a world that is not that welcoming to people who support the State of Israel will not deter me.”

And presently, whilst navigating this new world, Lester is also working on an exhibition of portraits of Holocaust survivors for the Melbourne Holocaust Museum to be unveiled next year.

At Limmud Oz in Sydney, the panel included musician Ben Adler who is also the lead member of klezmer funk band Chutney.

Speaking to The AJN, Adler said that it was “good to talk openly about it, and the situation for Jewish creatives now”.

Adler also observed that Chutney continues to experience antisemitism, not necessarily due to doxxing but because they are proudly Jewish and Zionist. “There are still anti-Israel trolls who will target us online – but they are only five per cent or less of the comments we receive, generally.”

Adler said that given his band comprises mostly Jews who play for largely Jewish audiences, he has not experienced any obvious fall-out from the doxxing, although Chutney also plays for non-Jewish audiences, and “you never know which opportunities you have lost”.

Chutney played at The Great Club in Marrickville in March and played for non-Jewish audiences in Wodonga and Creswick, Victoria.

Adler notes that Chutney was temporarily deplatformed from an opportunity soon after October 7 because of the organiser’s concern that Chutney’s Jewish music might prove “offensive”, but once Adler explained to the organiser why that would be antisemitic, the opportunity was restored. Adler said, “I believe it is important to have interface. Music is a way to communicate and connect with people.”

Adler continues to focus on Chutney’s new music. “We just released our biggest single yet – a mashup of Britney Spears, Beethoven and klezmer – with award-winning Jewish singer Ilan Kidron (The Potbelleez) on vocals. We created a music video with acclaimed Jewish director Adam Dostalek (Live Differently Productions). The song was recently named by Rolling Stone a ‘Song You Have to Know’, and was The Brag Media’s Video of the Week.

“We’ll be releasing our next single next ‘Chutney Tuesday’ (the first Tuesday of each month), Tuesday July 2. And then the full album will be released digitally on Tuesday August 6.”

Meanwhile, Lauren Besser, a jewellery designer from Melbourne based in New York City who started the acclaimed label Maripossa, spoke to The AJN about the impact doxxing has had on her business.

“It’s hard to say exactly what is a result of the doxxing … and what is more general covert antisemitism in response to my continued publicly shared views,” she said.

“I continue to receive direct messages on Instagram in response to posts I make, comments of harassment, hate speech and threats to boycott my business,” she said. “I have also had a few potential new retail clients here in NY who, on seeing my social media posts stopped communication in the middle of negotiating terms for selling my work.”

Besser said living in New York, which has been the scene of some of the most antisemitic protests, she also faced confrontations in public.

For example, she noted instances where pro-Palestinian protesters have been aggressive on the subway. “You can’t really escape if you’re on the subway in those moments so it’s tense and unnerving in such a confined space. And I have overheard pretty shocking conversations in those moments that have been difficult to ignore and not respond to.

“There have also been moments of beauty – seeing someone sitting directly across from me on the subway wearing a Magen David and sharing a moment with us giving each other a head nod acknowledging the other. Those moments are precious.”

Australian Jewish creatives each have their own unique experience, some more than others impacted by doxxing and the growing anti-Israel hostility that seems to dominate the zeitgeist of the arts world. This year we have also seen that anti-Israel hostility led Jewish philanthropists to withdraw their support from significant arts events.

As Jewish creatives grapple with continued ostracism from the arts scene, the Jewish community including arts philanthropists may wish to consider ways to better support Jewish artists so that they can continue to thrive.