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In general, what passes for the arts in contemporary society tend to attract narrow-minded conformists. And, it seems, anti-Semites. The London Times published an investigative piece on anti-Semitism in the British arts world, but I wonder whether things would be much different in the U.S. or most Western countries:

Britain’s cultural world has turned its back on Jewish creatives according to a series of allegations gathered by The Times.

Artists, writers and performers have stated that they are being frozen out of British cultural life because they refuse to describe Israeli actions in Gaza as genocidal.

This is classic totalitarianism. A specific verbal formula is prescribed, and if you don’t subscribe to it–much as if you declined to use a secret handshake–you are an outcast.

A film producer, who is planning to build one of the biggest film studios in Europe in Sunderland, said his industry was “institutionally antisemitic” while the organiser of the UK Jewish Film festival said cinemas were making it “impossible” for it to book venues for screening.

A series of literary figures meanwhile have described how they have been dropped by their agents because they refuse to use the word “genocide”, how authors are refusing to have their books transcribed into Hebrew and how they are being excluded from literary festivals and other readings.

The art world has also been affected with Tate, for example, being threatened with a boycott by artists unless it ends sponsorship from trusts set up by individuals deemed to be close to the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu. Tate has not commented.

Another prominent gallery is involved in a dispute with one of its workers who wore an Israel badge.

Jonathan Shalit, the head of one of the country’s biggest talent agencies, said that he had been warned that his willingness to “support Israel and speak on behalf of Judaism” would hinder attempts to have him chosen as the chairman of a “major organisation within the arts industry”.

It goes on and on. What to do about it? For one thing, I could be wrong about the arts world in the U.S. not being any better. Maybe, if only because we are bigger and more diverse, there is more opportunity for Jewish talent here. America benefited to an almost unbelievable extent, and continues to benefit, from the exodus of Jews from Europe that began in the 1930s. Maybe a similar exodus, on a smaller scale, is in the cards now.

Government support for the arts also needs to be reviewed carefully. I believe that all major arts organizations in the U.S., as in Europe, rely to a considerable extent on government funding. This wouldn’t apply to, e.g., publishers and art galleries, but it is true of the performing arts and museums generally. Taxpayer support for the arts in the U.S. has always been controversial, and evidence of anti-Semitism would make it more controversial still. Threats to government funding might at least deter overt expressions of anti-Semitism.

More generally, we need to continue to push back hard and publicly against the entire Leftist agenda, which now includes anti-Semitism along with racism, anti-Americanism (in this country), gender fantasies, and so on. Leftists who live in bubbles think they can enforce conformity on those they encounter, and perhaps no bubble is more hermetically sealed than the arts bubble. Exposure, followed by public outrage, ridicule, and withdrawal of patronage is perhaps the most effective way to fight back.