Kyrie Irving's Pro-Hamas Stance is Not Surprising, but The NBA's Silence is Disappointing
It is not at all surprising that unrepentant antisemite Kyrie Irving openly supports Hamas and makes false accusations against Israel. As I noted last year, "Antisemitism has been labeled the 'socialism of fools,' and Irving is emerging as the poster child of this foolishness." After ESPN's Nick Friedell asked Irving last year about Irving's social media post promoting a film filled with antisemitic tropes, I explained that Irving's response combined defiance and ignorance:
Irving acts like he is a brave person who speaks the truth, but he is a coward who spouts ignorance and then pretends that linking to an antisemitic film on his social media platform to spread that film's hate to his millions of followers could not possibly have any negative, real life consequences. "Did I harm anybody?" Irving asked Friedell at Saturday's press conference. Yes, in a country where antisemitic attacks are increasing to unprecedented levels, encouraging your millions of followers to watch a film that denies that the Holocaust happened and accuses Jews of worshiping Satan is harmful. Irving has deleted the offensive social media post, but he has not admitted that the film he promoted is full of hate-filled lies. Essentially, he gave the film free publicity to millions of his followers, and after he did that it is not nearly enough to just delete the social media post without any comment. It is irresponsible to incite hatred to millions of people and then just try to pretend that nothing happened.
If you don't understand the problem here, then just imagine that your least favorite politician posted something on social media that is offensive to you or to your ethnic group. Would you be satisfied if that person just took the post down with no comment, or would you think that he is obligated to repudiate the statement? Maybe if you think about it in those terms then you will understand why what Irving did is wrong, hurtful, and potentially putting a vulnerable minority group at risk.
As long as Irving keeps putting the ball in the hoop, though, he is immune from discipline, unless a whole lot more than seven people show up in NBA arenas wearing "Fight Antisemitism" T-shirts; that would get the NBA's attention, because the NBA cares more about profits than anything else. Wearing a "Fight Antisemitism" T-shirt at this time in this country is a lot braver than anything Irving has ever done.
It is naive at best to assert that when Irving wears a kaffiyeh at a press conference after Hamas' October 7 terrorist attack against Israel he is just expressing solidarity with Palestinian Arabs or support of peaceful coexistence; whatever the kaffiyeh may have meant in previous eras, in this era there is no question that it is associated with terrorism against Israel specifically and the Jewish people in general.
The NBA cares about profits more than it cares about anything else. Dallas' Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving duo can generate a lot of revenue in terms of high TV ratings, ticket purchases, and merchandise sales, so don't hold your breath waiting for the league or the Mavericks to take any action against Irving. Dallas owner Mark Cuban is Jewish and he has spoken out recently about the worldwide surge in antisemitism and about his personal experiences with antisemitism. It would be great if Cuban either helped Irving educate himself, or provided appropriate discipline to ensure that Irving understood that as a high-paid employee of the Dallas Mavericks he has a responsibility to not support terrorism--assuming that the Dallas Mavericks and the NBA are willing to publicly to take a position against supporting terrorism. Over 100 universities have publicly united against terrorism, and over 1500 lawyers from some of the world's biggest law firms issued a public statement condemning Hamas' terrorism:
We, the undersigned group of attorneys from around the world, publicly condemn and denounce the unspeakable acts of mass terror perpetrated by Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization, against civilians in Israel.
We stand for the rule of law. We are shocked and horrified by the ghastly barbarism carried out against innocent civilians. We are angered by the cowardly crimes against humanity committed and the massive scale on which they were perpetrated.
We stand for moral consistency. We are profoundly disturbed by the litany of free people throughout the world who are indifferent, or even hostile, when confronted with Jewish suffering.
We stand against injustice. We therefore affirm that Israel has the undeniable right and obligation to pursue justice against those who harm it and murder its citizens, and to defend itself against further aggression.
We stand for peace. We affirm the right of all people – Jews and non-Jews – to live in peace and security, and we wholeheartedly reject the moral equivalence of bloodthirsty terrorists and Israel’s imperative to defend its population.
Finally, we affirm the promise made by our forebears — that never again will Jews sit by while other Jews are slaughtered en masse.
We call on our colleagues in the legal profession and elsewhere to stand with us and denounce terrorism against Israel and Jews throughout the world.
The NBA has tremendous power and influence. It would be wonderful if the league issued a similar statement signed by Commissioner Adam Silver, every team owner, every coach, and every player.
Labels: antisemitism, Dallas Mavericks, Hamas, Israel, Kyrie Irving, Mark Cuban, NBA
posted by David Friedman @ 10:42 PM
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