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A social media post by Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) CEO Sacha Roytman on Tuesday in which he drew attention to the desecration of a London statue honoring the late Jewish singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse drew a slew of hateful responses, demonstrating the pervasive reach of online antisemitic bigotry.
On Monday, a Palestinian flag sticker was placed by an unidentified vandal on the statue’s Star of David necklace. The statue is located in Camden Market, near where Winehouse resided at the time of her tragic death at the age of 27 in 2011. The sticker was removed immediately by Camden Market, and the incident was reported to police.
During a work visit to London the following day, Roytman stopped at the statue and took a picture to publish on X.
“I came here to protect Amy from antisemites,” he wrote.
I came here to protect Amy from antisemites. pic.twitter.com/vfVWtRjpSs
— Sacha Roytman (@SachaRoytman) February 20, 2024
Following this public gesture, Roytman quickly found himself the target of a coordinated barrage of harassing tweets published by antisemitic bots and other malevolent actors.
A sample of responses to Roytman’s tweet follows:
She told me to tell you….. “no no no” (@9mmScorpion)
Give her a space dude. You guys do not know how to behave consensually around women. (@HasanAmman)
Don’t rape her! (@Moi747829)
You value a stone over the life of kids? (@MangingisdaSays)
They tried to make me accept genocide but I said NO NO NO (@tiko3231)
I would imagine Amy would of hated being touched by a zionist. (@uk_vapers)
He definitely didn’t go there to deflect attention from the Zionist’s genocide of 14,000 children. (@Agitate4Change)
How brave of you, but watch out, heard they put a Hamas tunnel underneath… (@tallyanne1)
Idol worship is the hallmark of the apostate (@HueroProfe)
Calm down, Goebbels (@apophasis1951)
Amalek will conquer Jews (@Johnetsone)
He’s a Jew, he would do a statue, too (@Moj_si_je)
Very strange guy (@91st_minute)
The Jewish junkie (@anti_zionistfed)
You tell them! Protect a statue from a 1cm sticker buddy (@FlipKing88)
This unsettling episode serves as a stark reminder of the unchecked proliferation of antisemitism on social media, particularly in the aftermath of the October 7th Hamas massacre in Israel, and the consequences faced by those who call it out and confront it directly.
