'Deeply troubling:' Local Jewish leaders say community is on edge after Irving's antisemitic social media post
Former Duke star and current NBA player Kyrie Irving has finally apologized for sharing a documentary with antisemitic tropes and Holocaust denials on his Twitter page.
This apology comes after a week of controversy. He initially refused NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's request for an apology. His team then said that Irving was "currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets."
On Thursday night, Irving was suspended from his NBA team after refusing to "unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs.”
Antisemitic ideas can give rise to real danger for the Jewish community in NC
Jewish leaders in the Triangle are concerned about the danger of this rhetoric, saying they are tired and outraged. They are asking more leaders to get involved in denouncing anti-Semitism and misinformation.
This is not the first time Irving has courted controversy – with past posts about a flat earth, Alex Jones' 'Infowars' and misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Hateful rhetoric has real consequences, says Rabbi Eric Solomon of Beth Meyer Synagogue.
In Raleigh this year, there have been four incidents of anti-Semitic flyers being dropped in people's yards.
"We have to divert a significant amount of our resources, our time, our spiritual energy, to protecting ourselves from these anti-Semitic threats," said Solomon.
Solomon points out that when celebrities voice such blatantly anti-Semitic ideas, it "ups the ante for people who are both mentally unstable, but even just anti-Semites who are looking for opportunities" to cause harm.
"We just honored the shooting of a synagogue in Pittsburgh, sadly, where Jews were killed," he said.
Rabbi Daniel Greyber at Durham's Beth El Synagogue says the Jewish community is on edge.
"Kyrie Irving has 21 million followers on social media, which is 50% more than all of the Jews in the world," he said.
How can we help stop hateful rhetoric?
Greyber is working with Ronald Godbee, the bishop and lead pastor of The River Church, to build bridges between their congregations. They are planning a trip to Washington, D.C., to visit both the African-American History Museum and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial as a way of bringing their communities together.
Godbee says they've made a pact to connect their communities.
"It's the only way we can live together in harmony as a community," said Godbee. "We have to understand the plight of each other so that we have some sort of sensitivity."
Irving posted a public apology on Instagram on Thursday saying in part that he apologizes to the Jewish communities who were affected by his post – and that he had no intention to disrespect any Jewish cultural history.
Solomon says one of the first, best ways to help stop hateful rhetoric from spreading is simply to speak up.
"It's very important that people here, including celebrities, but even your friends or family members or wherever you hear it – that you speak up," he said. "Sadly, we know that silence is like agreement. And we know sadly from our history of the Jewish people, with the Holocaust, when people are silent, terrible things happen."
