Another Canadian Antisemite

As a small break from the tedium of the Charlie Kirk fiasco, here’s a little news item from Canada that didn’t quite make its way into the broader MSM.  On Monday September 15, CBC Radio broadcast a French-language television program Sur le Terrain (‘On the Ground’), hosted by Christian Latreille, that covered Marco Rubio’s latest visit to Israel.  Their correspondent in Washington was a female reporter, Elisa Serret, who has served as a national correspondent for the CBC for over 10 years.  By all accounts, she is an experienced and well-respected journalist.

At one point in the program, Latreille asked Serret why Americans “have such difficulty distancing themselves from Israel, even in the most difficult moments”—such as in the midst of an ongoing genocide.  She replied:

My understanding, and that of multiple analysts here in the United States, is that it is the Israelis, the Jews, that heavily finance American politics. There is a big machine behind them, making it very difficult for Americans to detach themselves from Israel’s positions.  It is really the money here in the United States. The big cities are run by Jews.  Hollywood is run by Jews.

Well.  What impudence: to speak some truth, live, to a national television audience.  Predictably, the Canadian Jewish Lobby jumped all over this incident.  The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) declared that “antisemitism is absolutely unacceptable” and called for “immediate and unequivocal condemnation from all relevant [Canadian] leaders.”  In an online statement, the group said that “Antisemitism is corroding the fabric of society”; they demanded that the CBC “take concrete steps to ensure that neither such comments—nor the systemic issues that enabled them to be aired—are ever allowed again on Canadian airwaves.” The B’nai Brith of Canada said it was “deeply irresponsible and dangerous,” calling her remarks “textbook antisemitic conspiracy theories.”  They demanded an on-air retraction stating that the comments were “false, hateful, and unacceptable.”

Also predictably, Canadian authorities immediately caved in to pressure.  Writing on X, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said “The words used last night were pernicious antisemitic tropes and have absolutely no place on Canadian airwaves.”  A few hours later, the CBC released a statement saying that Serret’s analysis “led to stereotypical, antisemitic, false, and harmful allegations against Jewish communities.”  Conservative deputy leader and Jewish lesbian Melissa Lantsman called for her to be fired.  Serret was, of course, promptly “relieved of her duties until further notice.”  The Canadian Jewish Lobby, it seems, has nearly as much power internally as the US Jewish Lobby has here.

We can understand the Lobby’s reaction—it definitely makes things look bad for the Jews.  “Antisemitic” (yes, thankfully), “harmful” (yes), “hurtful” (yes)…but “false”?  That is, was she wrong?  Did Serret speak some actual truth, or was it all just “trope”?  Let’s walk through each of her assertions.

First: “Israelis/Jews heavily finance American politics.”  This is undeniably true.  According to a 2020 report by Jewish researcher Gil Troy, American Jews provide a huge proportion of political donations: around 25% for Republicans and 50% or more for Democrats.  Indeed, the Democrats are particularly captive to Jewish money; other sources claim that their Jewish share runs “as much as 60%,” “over 60%,” up to 70% of “large contributions,” and perhaps as high as 80-90% for certain elections.[1]  Such figures are surely underestimates, given how much dark money and laundered donations make their way into politicians’ pockets.

But Republicans are obviously not free from such influence.  Trump received considerable funding from wealthy Jews, including the likes of Bernie Marcus (deceased), Miriam Adelson (Sheldon Adelson’s wife; Adelson is deceased), Carl Icahn, Paul Singer, Robert Kraft, Steve Witkoff, Howard Lutnik, Jacob Helberg, Bill Ackman, Ron Lauder, and Marc Rowan.  Most notably, in the latter phases of last year’s election, Miriam Adelson made good on her pledge of $100 million to Trump’s campaign.

Let there be no doubt:  Jews are the dominant donors in American politics for both parties, and this is a key factor underlying the subservient compliance of our elected officials.

Second: “a big machine.”  The US Jewish Lobby is indeed a big machine, centered on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.  AIPAC has its own political action committee (the “AIPAC PAC”) to make donations, and its own super-PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP); jointly, these two components spent at least $125 million in the last election cycle.  AIPAC has minders or staff members in the offices of nearly every Congressman, and it works to defeat unfriendly legislators—most recently, Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman.  Other influential Jewish groups include the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Council of Presidents (COP), the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), the Orthodox Union (OU), and the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI).  Other groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) receive considerable Jewish funding and thus work to serve Jewish interests.  Additionally, we have “liberal” Jewish organizations like Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) and J-Street that work to advance Jewish aims.  A big machine indeed.

Third: “very difficult for Americans to detach.”  Most Americans, especially the young, are increasingly moving toward anti-Israel and even anti-Jewish views.  US approval for Israeli actions in Gaza recently hit a new low of 32%, down from 50% early in the conflict.  Only 9% of those 18-34 approve of the actions, showing a notable “detachment” among American youth.  A recent poll showed that 30% of Americans believe that “Jews have too much power.”  And perhaps most notoriously, a 2023 survey found that 20% of American youth believe that the Holocaust was “a myth.”  The American people, especially the youth, do not find it very hard to detach from the Israeli megalith.

American politicians, however, are another story.  Having been heavily funded, and even pre-selected, to be pro-Israel and pro-Jewish, Congressmen routinely vote 80%, 90%, even 100% in favor of Jewish interests.  Apart from a few renegades in the US House, like Thomas Massie and Rashida Tlaib, Congress is thoroughly unable to detach from Jewish interests.  The two major parties, who disagree on nearly every other point, readily find common ground when it comes to Jewish and Israeli concerns.

The only real “detachment” problem in the US today is the one from Jewish money in politics.  Excluding such money would be obvious in any rational governmental system.  Unfortunately today in the US, we are governed by an irrational system, one in which the process of change is corrupted and blocked by the same money that creates the problem in the first place.  In other words, wealthy Jews, who now effectively control Congress and the Executive branch, will naturally stop any efforts to reform the system in such a way that might decrease their power.  They control both the system and the means to change the system; this is political corruption beyond belief, and it suggests that only governmental collapse or civil war will improve things.

Fourth: “it is really the money.”  Yes, as noted above.  American Jews own or control as much as 50% of the $175 trillion in total personal wealth in this country.  They comprise half or more of the richest Americans, including the new #1, Larry Ellison, who recently clocked in at $390 billion[2] and is now buying up media.  If the 6 million or so Jewish-Americans own or control, say, $90 trillion, this yields a staggering average of $15 million in assets for every Jewish man, woman, and child.  The average Jewish family of four thus holds about $60 million in wealth.  Little wonder that they can afford such hefty political donations.

Fifth: “the big cities are run by Jews.”  Serret has overreached here a bit.  Of the 50 largest cities in the US, only three have Jewish mayors:  San Francisco (Daniel Lurie), Louisville (Craig Greenberg), and Minneapolis (Jacob Frey).  But several other large cities have significant Jewish populations and thus are certainly run in accord with their interests, including New York (10.8% Jewish, for the larger metropolitan area), Miami (8.7%), Philadelphia (6.8%), Boston (5.2%), Los Angeles (4.7%), Washington DC (4.7%), and Baltimore (4.1%).  (I would note that, based on empirical and anecdotal evidence, for any demographic unit in which Jews exceed even 1%, they certainly dominate political and economic activities.)  Additionally, there are a number of Jewish governors, and they clearly have influence over the major cities in their respective states: Jared Polis (Colorado); J. B. Pritzker (Illinois); Josh Green (Hawaii); Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania); Josh Stein (North Carolina); and Matt Meyer (Delaware).  On the other hand, there are large cities with relatively few Jews, including Indianapolis, Memphis, and Austin.  Thus, it is something of a mixed bag, but Jewish interests unquestionably dominate in New York, LA, Miami, DC, Philly, San Francisco, and Boston.

Sixth:  “Hollywood is run by Jews.”  Nothing more need be said.  Actually, it would have been better if Serret had said, “American media is run by Jews”; we can infer that this is what she meant.  One need only look at the largest media conglomerates:  Disney/ABC, run by Bob Iger, Alan Horn, and Alan Braverman; Warner Discovery, run by David Zaslav; NBC/Universal, run by Mark Lazarus, Bonnie Hammer, and via Comcast, Brian Roberts; and Paramount, run by Shari Redstone.  Furthermore, the new Skydance/Paramount corporation will be run by billionaire Larry Ellison’s son, David, and his new management team includes Jeff Shell, Josh Greenstein, and Dana Goldberg.  Case closed.  This lock on American media, which includes news and entertainment, explains why most Americans are utterly unaware of the situational dominance by Jews.  Very little truth slips out; and when it does, as in this case, the censors and “editors” step in to squelch the story and contain the damage.

Elisa Serret is a heroine.  We owe her much gratitude for her few seconds of truth-telling on a national media stage.  For now, the Jews have black-bagged her, but we can only hope that she reemerges stronger than before—perhaps as a new media star in North America, perhaps as a new, strong voice in defense of truth, honesty, and justice.

David Skrbina, PhD, is a retired professor of philosophy. For more on his work and writings, see www.davidskrbina.com

[1] Cited in Washington Post (13 Mar 2003, p. A1); Jewish Power in America (2008) by R. Feingold, p. 4; The Hill (30 Mar 2004, p. 1); Passionate Attachment (1992) by Ball and Ball, p. 218—respectively.

[2] Ellison regularly swaps places with Elon Musk, depending on the vagaries of the stock market.  If one man owns nearly half a trillion dollars, we can easily see how 6 million Jews might own $80 or $90 trillion.