The Anti-Zionist Affliction

By Seth Mandel

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

 

Anti-Zionism is many things, including humorless and anhedonic. I often watch news coverage of anti-Israel activism and hear the voice of Carol Burnett’s mean old Miss Hannigan in Annie: “Do I hear happiness in here?”

 

There is almost nothing in the world quite as campy as the Eurovision song contest, but instead of getting into character and enjoying the shtick, Europeans are whining year-round about the participation of Israelis. This year, the contest even tried changing the rules to prevent Israel’s entrant, Noam Bettan, from matching the Jewish state’s past competitiveness.

 

Even that didn’t work as planned, since Bettan has now at least qualified for the finals. Four idiots got themselves tossed out of the audience for protesting Bettan’s existence on this earth yesterday during his performance. The Irish public broadcaster not only boycotted this year’s contest but is refusing to even air it on TV.

 

After all, if you allow people to watch Jews sing, who knows—it could lead to mixed dancing. Before you know it, impressionable children may be using offensive language, like “Israeli couscous.”

 

And so, no singing. No dancing. No watching, singing, or dancing. It’s like Footloose with keffiyehs.

 

What about art? If we can’t have music because the Jews have music too, can we look at pictures? Here I will refer you to the New York Times’ subheadline on an article about the Venice Biennale, the prestigious art expo: “The hottest exhibitions at the world’s major art exhibition were shuttered on Friday as part of a pro-Palestinian demonstration.”

 

Is that not the tagline of our times? More from the Times:

 

“When the final preview day opened at 10 a.m., dozens of visitors flocked to Austria’s pavilion, where Florentina Holzinger’s performance ‘Seaworld Venice’ which includes numerous naked performers, had drawn hourslong lines all week. They found the pavilion closed, with a sign outside saying that ‘some team members have decided to participate in the strike.’

 

“Some of the other buzziest exhibitions at this year’s event, including those by artists representing Belgium, Egypt, Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea, were also shut. Signs outside some of those pavilions read, ‘We stand with Palestine.’”

 

No dancing, no singing, no art, no immodest mer-people. All “for Palestine.” If only they would do something for the Palestinians instead of doing nothing “for Palestine.”

 

And what’s going on at the Israeli pavilion? “Armed police officers outside stopped anybody without tickets from entering. Late on Friday, several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters staging a march tried at one point to get to the Arsenale and briefly clashed with the police.”

 

Right. Extra security. Just as the Israeli artists at Eurovision need extra security. Athletic competitions as well. It turns out the “peace movement” has to be physically restrained from attacking random Jews.

 

The Biennale began inauspiciously. The jury for the prestigious awards given at the exhibition resigned en masse when told Israel would participate. The jury claimed they were also upset about Russia’s participation, but “for Palestine” doesn’t include Ukraine. Indeed, the jury tried to argue that they were against the participation of a contestant from any country “whose leaders are subject to arrest warrants for crimes against humanity,” as The Art Newspaper explained. In other words, they simply worked to find wording that would exclude Israel under ridiculous pretenses.

 

In solidarity with the jury, more than 70 artists announced they would not accept any awards at the Biennale. The artist strike that took place once the Biennale opened was organized by an anti-Israel group and made no attempt to pretend it had anything to do with ICC warrants or Vladimir Putin.

 

And so it goes.

 

If you’ve followed much of the arts and entertainment world since October of 2023, you will have noticed that absolutely nothing is more important to its associated industries than excluding Jews.

 

This should not be too surprising. Those who consider themselves anti-Zionists are admitting they have a problem. They define their lives and their work and their play around opposition to a certain national population. Anti-Zionism is by definition an obsession, an antisocial affliction, a psychological condition. As the contagion spreads, there will still be pockets of art and comedy and literature and other essential pillars of culture. But only in places where you’ll also find Jews, apparently.