While many of his peers have been sending messages decrying injustice and intolerance, rapper Ice Cube (born O'Shea Jackson) spent the past week posting antisemitic content on Twitter to his 5.3 million followers, falsely tying Jews to the oppression of African American people.
Last Sunday the former rapper caused outrage after posting the below antisemitic meme and refused to remove it, despite repeated requests by many Jewish groups.
The antisemitic caricature first appeared as a mural in London’s East End in 2012 and sparked a controversy when the Jewish Museum of Art of London likened it to antisemitic propaganda in Nazi Germany and in 2018, after Britain’s Labour Party leader at the time, Jeremy Corbyn, voiced support for Kalen Ockerman, the artist behind 'offensive' mural.
On Wednesday, June 10th, the rapper posted another troubling meme on Twitter that stated "Hebrew Israelites [were] slaves in Ancient Egypt. Clearly they are a black people." The message is a reference to the false idea, shared among Nation of Islam and the Hebrew Israelite group, that black people, not present-day Jews, are the true descendants of biblical Israelites.
A few hours prior, Ice Cube retweeted a post referencing the cult-like group's promo video and an assertion that the group's members are "God’s chosen people", with the threatening text "Your time is running out..."
That same day, he also tweeted a Jewish Star of David with what appeared to be a Black Cube of Saturn inside. The symbol has been described as a reference to occult worship possibly suggesting that Jews are controlling the world.
Not surprisingly, Ice Cube is a fan of rabid Jew hater Louis Farrakhan (our June 10, 2019 Antisemite of the Week). He recently openly supported Farrakhan on Twitter, stating that "the Honorable Farrakhan continues to warn America". In 2018, Farrakhan caused turmoil for referring to Jews as termites, and is considered one of the most distinctive antisemites of our time.
Ice Cube's revolting Twitter tirade not only caused outrage among Jewish circles, but it even caught the attention of Marc Lamont Hill (our May 15, 2019 Antisemite of the Week), a CNN contributor that was fired for his own antisemitic conspiracy theories.
When a Twitter user asked if Ice Cube was hacked given his blunt antisemitic rant, Lamont Hill replied "Sadly, no. This is his second antisemitic post in a week".
This isn't the first time Ice Cube was accused of antisemitism. In 1991, the Simon Wiesenthal Center condemned his album “Death Certificate,” noting that many lyrics were racist and one of the songs called for the murder of a Jewish music industry figure. His song “No Vaseline” has been criticized for its line directed at his former group NWA, stating “let a white Jew tell [them] what to do.”
In 2015, Ice Cube was also accused of ordering his entourage to beat up a rabbi. According to various news outlets, Rabbi P. Taras was at the MGM Detroit hotel when he bumped into Ice Cube outside an elevator. The rapper responded by having the Rabbi assaulted. While he was getting stomped, Taras claims he heard several antisemitic epithets. A $2 million lawsuit against the rapper for assault and battery was filed.
At this time of civil unrest, when the need to pull together and condemn hate against all racial groups is greater than ever, we are disgusted by Ice Cube's vile antisemitism, which is being spread to millions online.
Help us stop his hatred by reporting any of his antisemitic posts!