Amazon is still selling anti-Semitic film promoted by Kyrie Irving
Amazon is still peddling the controversial anti-Semitic film
that landed Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving in hot water.
The movie, “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” was
available for purchase on Amazon’s Prime Video service as of early Tuesday
morning.
The film, which is based on a 2015 book of the same title,
promotes anti-Semitic tropes and bogus claims, including one which says the
Black Hebrew Israelite community are the true descendants of biblical
Israelites.
The movie also alleges a global Jewish conspiracy to oppress
black people and that Jews were partially to blame for the African slave trade.
A New York Times report cited sources as saying that Amazon
was considering adding a disclaimer to the film.
Last week, Irving, the mercurial Nets star, took to Twitter
and posted a link to the film. After news reports highlighted the anti-Semitic
content in the movie, Nets owner Joe Tsai released a statement condemning
Irving for the tweet.
When reporters confronted Irving over his tweet, the
all-star guard refused to renounce the film and its anti-Semitic claims.
The Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish civil rights group,
and others expressed outrage — fueling calls for the NBA to take action against
the player.
Last week, the ADL, which views the film as “virulently
anti-Semitic,” sent a letter to Amazon urging the Seattle-based tech giant to
remove the film and book from its platform.
“The book and the film are designed to inflame hatred and,
now that it was popularized by Mr. Irving, will lead directly to the harm of
Jews,” the letter reads, according to The Washington Post.
“These views aren’t different viewpoints on history, they
are outright antisemitic hate. They amplify longstanding antisemitic tropes
about Jewish power, greed and claims that Jews control the media.”
Another prominent American Jewish organization, the American
Jewish Committee, also asked Amazon to remove the film and book.
Since the scandal erupted last week, the film has become the
top-selling documentary on Prime Video.
The book version has been catapulted to No. 46 on the
best-selling list overall and first in the Christian Education category as well
as the Black & African American Biographies category as of Monday.
The Nets finally bowed to pressure and suspended Irving for
a minimum of five games.
The team has required Irving to meet six requirements,
including an unequivocal apology and condemnation of the film as well as
completion of “sensitivity training,” before he can be reinstated and allowed
back onto the basketball court.
Irving took to Instagram on Thursday and posted an apology,
though he continued to insist that some aspects of the film were true.
“While doing research on YHWH, I posted a Documentary that
contained some false anti-Semitic statements, narratives, and language that
were untrue and offensive to the Jewish Race/Religion, and I take full
accountability and responsibility for my actions,” Irving wrote on Instagram.
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