Made infamous for pushing often controversial narratives on social media, singer and entrepreneur Kanye West – who now goes by ‘Ye’, took his antics to new heights last week on Infowars. He shared with viewers his affinity for Adolf Hitler, arguing that we ought not to demonise the man.
In what can only be described as an abhorrent display of antisemitism, Mr West went on to say, “I see good things about Hitler… he invented highways.”
And: “He [Hitler] had a really cool outfit and stuff… and he didn’t kill six million Jews.”
The ignorance and hateful absurdity of such comments defy logic, never mind common decency. The intent behind West’s comments is self-evident – it infers that whatever ills befell the Jews were not only justified but ought to be replicated again.
Words matter as they too often give way to actions. It is impossible to not draw direct parallels between Mr West’s rhetoric and the sudden spike in anti-Semitism throughout our Western capitals; a reality we must all work to immediately remedy.
More troubling still has been the convergence of narratives from all sides of the political spectrum. As it were, the far-right and the far-left have now joined at their extreme ends to find themselves in agreement in their rejection of the World Jewry.
A minority among minorities, Jews do not even comprise one percent of the world population. Yet today, they are being demonised and their right to exist is being challenged.
Old hates die hard indeed. This is the second time that Kanye West chose to exploit his fame and access to promote anti-Semitism, rationalising his diatribe as an act of self-preservation against the ills Jews are allegedly responsible for including the breakdown of his marriage and his inability to gain access to his children.
Mr West may wish to take a knee and ponder over the notion that his very rhetoric and his admiration of fascism put him on par with Terror’s ideologues. His words echo those of the Islamic Republic, Al Qaeda, and ISIS – only to name a few.
To say that Mr West’s behaviour is appalling is a grave understatement. His actions are tantamount to an act of genocide since his words are rationalising Nazism and praising its ideologue.
Six million Jews died in the Holocaust, and countless others died alongside them. Their memories cannot and should not be so easily forgotten or rewritten – least of all to cater to the delusion of a man so desperate to remain culturally relevant that he has chosen to appeal to the most debased amongst us.