KTTH OPINION

Rantz: Wing Luke Museum staff stage walkout over fight against antisemitism

May 26, 2024, 3:11 PM | Updated: 3:28 pm

Photo: The Wing Luke Museum....

The Wing Luke Museum. (Photo: Tracy Hunter, Flickr Creative Commons)

(Photo: Tracy Hunter, Flickr Creative Commons)

Half the staff of the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle walked off the job because of an exhibit on antisemitism and hate — an exhibit they desperately needed to attend. Now, the museum is shuttered with no reopening date, and given their attempts to appease their Jew-hating staff, it should remain closed permanently.

The group of staff explained their walkout in a social media post, complaining that the exhibit “Confronting Hate Together” calls out antisemites who hide behind “anti-Zionism” to justify their hate.

Ironically, the staff did exactly what the exhibit condemns, even accusing Jews of engaging in white supremacy, despite Jews not being white.

“On university campuses, pro-Palestinian groups have voiced support for Hamas (which is classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government) and a Palestinian state stretching ‘from the river to the sea,’ a phrase defined by the erasure of Israel,” says a passage at the exhibit the antisemites dislike.

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Antisemitic staff walkout over antisemitism exhibit at Seattle museum

The antisemitic staffers claimed they raised concerns about this exhibit in May. Online, they accuse Israel of “violent colonization and imperialism” and declare, “Zionism has no place in our communities.” Translation: “Jews have no place in our communities.”

“We love the Wing Luke Museum and are consistently honored to steward the stories of our community members, many of whom have experienced the destructive harm of white supremacy, genocide and violence that parallels the experience of Palestinians today,” the group posted in a statement. “Our solidarity with Palestine should be reflected in our AA/NHPI institutions. It sets a dangerous precedent of platforming colonial, white supremacist perspectives and goes against the Museum’s mission as a community-based museum advancing racial and social equity.”

They don’t explain which “white supremacist perspectives” were platformed, though they believe Jews are white, so any pro-Israel platform is white supremacist to them. They whine about “Zionist language” in the exhibit. Zionism is the belief that Jews should live on our ancestral land, Israel. Anti-Zionists don’t believe Israel should exist, an antisemitic position.

The group closed comments on its Instagram page to avoid criticism. Like in Gaza with Hamas in charge, you do not question the Jew-haters who declared themselves in charge.

Cowardly museum leadership bows to antisemitism

The antisemitic staffers have demands before they return to work.

Rather than sugarcoat their demands, “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH will translate them: they want language critical of “Palestinian liberation” (including Hamas terrorism) and supportive of Zionism removed; an acknowledgment that the section on antisemitism doesn’t include voices of antisemites justifying terrorism against Israel; a community panel with antisemites to review and edit the exhibit; and more antisemitic voices posturing as pro-Palestinian and anti-racist.

The cowards running the Wing Luke Museum have made some changes due to criticism from their antisemitic staff. But that wasn’t enough. Steve McLean, director of communications for the museum, told the Seattle Times, “Certainly adding voices that may even stand in contrast to some of the voices used in this exhibit, that would be something we are interested in pursuing.”

If the museum adds voices that “stand in contrast” to those featured in the exhibit, it no longer confronts hate. It perpetuates it.

Local media’s pathetic whitewashing of antisemitism

Local media coverage has been predictably pathetic in its whitewashing of the staff hatred.

The Seattle Times offered a story intended to normalize and amplify the hate, even attempting to defend the use of the phrase “from the river to the sea.” KING 5, which has platformed anti-Israel and antisemitic voices since October 7, offered a bare-bones explanation of the protest without any voices condemning the hate.

“The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH, in contrast, will offer the truth: the staff members who walked out are Jew-hating bigots who should be shunned by society. But in Seattle, antisemites are embraced.

More from Jason RantzUW Seattle gave barriers to Antifa to keep Jews out of Liberated Zone

The double standard when it comes to antisemitism

The museum’s leadership should fire the hateful staff but instead chose to engage them in dialogue.

Would they engage staffers who walked out of an exhibit calling out transphobia? No, of course not. They would never tolerate hate against the transgender community.

But hate against Jews, even when inspired by an exhibit meant to call out antisemitism? Wing Luke Museum invites the new Nazis to the table for a dialogue that convinces them to return to work, rather than be fired like how any reasonable employer would respond.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason on X, formerly known as TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

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