Sony email chain on behalf of Israel joined Russell Simmons and Michael Lynton with rightwing Zionists

Gawker has a juicy post up that everyone is sending around this morning: it’s about a group email that was leaked from the hacking of Sony; and the subject is the Gaza war of last summer. Gawker is excited by the celebrity gossip: Natalie Portman got angry at producer Ryan Kavanaugh for copying her with a group of nearly 40 others, thereby ruining that email account.

But the heart of the exchange is Kavanaugh’s concern that rage toward Israel over Gaza will result in another Holocaust. And hiphop producer Russell Simmons responds in sympathy to Kavanaugh.

The elite email group includes Sony’s CEO Michael Lynton, Hollywood producers, Republican Israel supporter Frank Luntz, and Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

The email chain began with a note about Gaza last August — “Is the Gaza War Really Over?” — from producer Ron Rotholz, who, according to Gawker, “has the habit of forwarding urgent articles about anti-Semitism and Israel to a circle of colleagues and friends… More than a dozen such forwards… can be located in the inbox of Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, who seems to mostly ignore them.”

Fuel the MomentumKavanaugh responds to the group with a frantic note about declining support for Israel:

Before the summer 50 percent of college students supported israel, today less the 25 percent do. There are hate crimes against heed [sic] happening in almost every major metropolitan city, now including the US.

We have let this happen. And it’s our job to keep another Hollacast from happening. Many of you may think that can’t happen, that is extreme. My Grandmother told me over and over again remember no one believed it could happen and everyone thought the government would not allow it to. It took 5 years before the us stepped in, and 12 million dead.

If you pull newspapers from pre Hollacast it seems eerily close to our world today.

You may recall that Kavanaugh was vehement last summer against Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem when they said Israel was guilty of genocide in Gaza. Kavanaugh wanted Hollywood to cut them off at the knees.

Russell Simmons then responds sympathetically to the group:

Simple messaging from non Jews specifically from Muslims promoting peace and Israel’s right to exist. Should be spread. (Possibly using statements from Hamas leadership in this branding exercise) could be a unifying force. U have ken sunshine on the chain. We have resources and the desire to win rather then loose the hearts of young Muslims and Jews. Our love for innocent suffering Palestinians must be a strong part of our messaging.

With great love all things are possible

Gawker’s Sam Biddle writes:

Simmons’ suggestion is close to the hilarious one that former Time editor and current Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Rick Stengel posed to Lynton in a separate email a week or two later: “My question is, who is the Muslim Bob Geldof? What if there were a Muslim Anti-ISIL We Are the World video/concert? It could have Muslim artists from all over the world plus hip hop stars.”

I’ll spare you the rest of the aimless debate over peace in the Middle East and Israeli self-defense—which took place entirely between Kavanaugh, Simmons, Rotholz and not a single other member of the 39-strong reply-all group..

I don’t think this kind of group email is meaningless. Frank Luntz is a rightwing Zionist pollster who has promoted PM Netanyahu over President Obama. Marvin Hier is a rightwinger too. Simmons is an outspoken Democrat, but he is obviously concerned about saying the right thing re Israel to a group that includes powerful folks. Yes: also some concern for “innocent Palestinians,” as opposed to Hamas. Despite Portman’s demurral, the email chain here surely represents a cultural consensus about Israel inside the establishment. The fact that Rick Stengel of the State Department also reached out at that time to Lynton– both men are of Jewish descent (and Stengel is an old friend of mine, and a good guy)– is no conspiracy but a reflection of The Powers That Be in this day and age. The same cultural consensus was evident when Democrat Haim Saban and Republican Sheldon Adelson got together and mused about bombing Iran and buying the New York Times to guarantee its support for Israel. Haaretz at that time said archly, “It was like a scene out of ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.’ Two immensely wealthy Jews, key financiers of the main political parties of the world’s superpower, discussing how to wage war on the enemies of the Jews, and control the media and presidents.” It’s easy for an Israeli outlet to make that kind of conspiratorial comment; it has the excuse that it is talking amongst Jews in a confidential manner and not to a general public who might conceive a prejudice against Jews. But this is also the embarrassment of the Sony email chain: it is a reflection of Jewish power inside the establishment in support of Israel, in the midst of a massacre.

Update:  Just now on WNYC, Lucinda Franks said that her husband Robert Morgenthau, the former NY DA, is working in retirement with the Mossad to catch terrorists. Jeez. It never ends.

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Geez if anyone were to say that this kind of letter and collaboration existed they would be accused of anti semitism and blood libel ala protocols. The truth is much more scary.

Amazing that people who wield such influence and have such strong, though misinformed and disinformed, opinions cannot be troubled to learn that it is not spelled “Hollacast.”

Such ignorance, even regarding positions that they regard so highly, they are willing to whitewash war crimes over them.

But it does suggest that as the Palestinian narrative becomes more mainstream, that more dissent should arise, even among the elite. That the blind support for Israel is, at least for some, hopefully less out of fanaticism and more out of ignorance.

Therefore, the more Palestinians are humanized, the more likely those who were once adversarial regarding support for Palestinian equality will become allies for change.

It’s right to call out the insidery assumption of support for Israel, but don’t underestimate the eye-rolling from everyone else who ignored the emails. Kavanaugh comes off as spectrum-scale tone-deaf and dumb as two bricks. He calls it the “Hollacast” (search Twitter for Hollacast for a laugh) and writes:

The problem is that Moore ‘ law is kicking in. Before the summer 50 percent of college students supported israel, today less the 25 percent do.

Moore’s Law (@andyblewis said) is about computers, not Jews. And see how Kavanaugh mocks Natalie Portman for complaining that he exposed her info:

“Sorry,” he replied. “You are right jews being slaughtered for their beliefs and cannes members calling for the boycott of anything Israel or Jewish is much much less important then your email address being shared with 20 of our peers who are trying to make a difference. my deepest apologies.” (Grimace emoji.)

Producers with a hit film under their belt must have such contempt for stars that someone like Kavanaugh would continue to abuse Portman’s email after being asked to stop (and likewise, would publicly attack Cruz and Bardem). But busy Hollywood movers and shakers have got to resent the constant interruptions and think poorly of the crude, illiterate idiot behind them and his arguments. Being identified with this kind of boorishness isn’t helping Israel.

You can get an idea about how much these people actually read about these issues by the misspelling of “Holocaust”. I’m not a stickler about spelling, but when someone can’t even spell the thing they are most concerned about, it leads me to believe they don’t see the word written out because they don’t do a lot of reading about it. Rather than developing an informed opinion, they are operating from a place of pure emotion.

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the thing is for most people
it will never be about being (or not being) Jewish
it will always be about the need for every & all to be treated honestly
we all should hope that one day every & all will work together in this effort
all for one justice
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Merry Christmas every & all
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Thank You G-d for The Gift that keeps on Giving
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G-d Bless Us Everyone
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