“Wednesday” star Jenna Ortega has come into the limelight for all the wrong reasons. The 20-year-old star, who plays Wednesday Addams in the record-breaking Netlfix series, shared awareness about the Palestinian issue on Twitter. However, “The Times of Israel” article, comparing Kanye West and Jenna’s anti-Semitic behaviour, has led people to believe that Jenna is anti-semitic. So what’s the reality? Read on to know more.
Why Is Jenna Being Called Anti-Semitic?
Decolonize Palestine. https://t.co/MlI5Gpr2QN
— Jenna Ortega (@jennaortega) March 6, 2022
On March 6, Jenna Ortega, best known for playing Wednesday Addams, shared awareness of the Palestinian cause. In a tweet, she shared a link and ways to contribute to the ongoing crisis in Palestine, and wrote: “We must never give up on the people of Ukraine, Yemen, Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq, Syria… the list goes on, unfortunately.”
However, a recent “Times of Israel” article compared Kanye West’s open hatred to Jenna’s “well-intention but uninformed” anti-semitic behaviour. The article dated December 14, 2022, bore the headline: “Jenna Ortega vs. Kanye: Whose antisemitic hate is worse?” The journalist Dan Margolis questioned Jenna’s act of sharing a link to an organization called Decolonize Palestine.
He wrote: “Decolonize? Was this a clumsy attempt at supporting a two-state solution?” Margolis wrote. “I clicked the link. And I was horrified.” He also described the Decolonize Palestine website as a platform which promotes “extremist propaganda”, adding, “it is “advocating for the same position Hamas holds: abolition of the State of Israel—the world’s only Jewish state, existing only in part of the land to which Jews are indigenous.”
The aforementioned website also depicts a fictional story wherein European Jews were and are termed as foreign invaders who displaced a pacific Palestinian people. However, at the beginning of the article, Margolis stated: “Ortega sincerely believes antisemitism is evil, no less so than sexism, homophobia, hatred of Muslims, or other forms of racism and xenophobia. The idea that she promotes anti-Jewish causes would likely make her shudder.”
The article further explained that Jenna, like millions of Americans, has no real understanding of antisemitism and is unlikely to recognize it in at least some form. “And, also like millions of other Americans, she likely doesn’t do much investigation into a cause before she posts it to social media,” it added.
Jenna was compared to Kanye West, who has already been cancelled by big brands for spitting hatred against the Jews, and his antisemitic views. If you don’t recall, Kanye tweeted on Oct. 8: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE. The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti-Semitic because black people are Jews also You guys have toyed with me and tried to blackball anyone who opposes your agenda.” Since then, he’s been in news for spreading hatred against the Jews.
Jenna’s Comparision To Kanye West
Daniel Margolis’ article has been widely shared on Twitter, sparking debates among users who have conflicting views about Jenna. Some users agreed that the two celebrities have shared hatred towards the Jewish community while others defended Jenna for spreading awareness about the plight of those who have been suppressed by power.
“Tired of people who can’t differentiate criticism of a state from criticism of an ethnic group,” said one. “I guarantee you that if you verbally attack my state I won’t call you Islamophobic. If you say ‘Kurds deserve to live’ I don’t think you support terrorism.”
which is worse: Kanye's love and admiration for Hitler or Jenna Ortega's support for the oppressed people of Palestine? https://t.co/Lz6XwkZtPR
— aham (@ahamfrom72nd) January 3, 2023
Another responded to the headline, asking “which is worse: Kanye’s love and admiration for Hitler or Jenna Ortega’s support for the oppressed people of Palestine? Another wrote, “As a Jew bulls*** like this enrages me so bad. This is why it’s hard to call out real antisemitism because it gets conflated [with] Israel’s agenda. Palestinian rights =/= antisemitism. No one committed hate crimes because of Wednesday’s ‘love everyone’ message, but they sure did re Ye’s.”
As someone who actually read the article, the issue was that she linked to a website that depicted the I/P conflict in rather antisemitic ways, which it ascribed to Ortega’s naïveté rather than malice. So yes, bad headline, but it’s not like ToI is the only news site to do that
— Pratchettgaiman (@davidlev13) January 2, 2023
However, many came to Jenna’s defence and suggested that the comparison between Jenna and Kanye is “nowhere near equivalent,” adding that the publication “made up” Jenna’s antisemitism. While Kanye openly spoke against Jews, Jenna has just highlighted the ongoing problems and sought support for the victims.
One wrote, “Jenna Ortega is talking about human rights. Kanye West is talking about taking away human rights.” Another wrote, “the issue was that [Ortega] linked to a website that depicted the I/P conflict in rather antisemitic ways, which it ascribed to Ortega’s naïveté rather than malice. So yes, bad headline, but it’s not like ToI is the only news site to do that.” What do you think about it? Well, I think Jenna is nowhere close to antisemitic.
