Zusha Goldin was living the high life. After arriving in Los Angeles from Brooklyn, in just under four years, the young photographer had managed to build an impressive career. He was hired to take pictures of the likes of Bryan Cranston, Ben Stiller, Elle Fanning and Lily James, and had worked for huge publications like Variety and Deadline.
And then, Oct. 7 happened. Goldin was on a relaxing vacation in Israel for the Jewish holidays when he heard the news: there was an attack. Just a few days after the massacre – which left over 1,200 dead and devastated Israel and the entire Jewish world – he put up an Instagram post of photos of Israel, writing, “The once bustling streets now empty. Shot on IPhone. – Jerusalem, Israel 10.11.23 – עם ישראל חי.”
“Within hours, I received hundreds of comments telling me to ‘kill yourself,’” he said. “They wrote, ‘Hitler misses you’ and ‘Gas the Jews.”’ If I was receiving these comments and I’m a grown adult, what about the tens of thousands of Jewish teenagers around the world who are the recipients of this hate?”
Upon returning to America, the 25-year-old knew he had to do something. Goldin conceptualized Artists Against Antisemitism, which would be a coalition of artists using their art and influence to combat hate.
“Exhibit one came to mind,” he said. “It would be celebrities holding up the real antisemitic comments I received in a photo studio environment. I imagined how Jewish teens would feel seeing their favorite celebrity having their back. I quickly began to take action.”
Getting Artists Against Antisemitism Up and Running
This past month, Goldin held an exhibit and opening party for Artists Against Antisemitism in LA. With the help of Siri Garber of Platform PR and Shanni Suissa, the CEO of Jews Talk Justice, he photographed celebrities holding up signs containing the antisemitic and hateful comments he received as they stood against a black background. Tiffany Haddish, Montana Tucker, Paul Walter Hauser, Ginnifer Goldwin, Elon Gold, Debra Messing, Julianna Margulies, Lizzy Savetsky and Emmanuelle Chriqui participated in the project.
In her photo, Savetsky holds up a sign that says, “The last thing the world needs is more demons.” The social media influencer and mom of three said she took part in Artists Against Antisemitism because many artists have stayed silent about antisemitism, “while they proudly stand up for every other marginalized group. This project was not only an important way to take a stand against the growing hate towards the Jewish people, but it did it in a way that showcased the hate we get for doing so. Social media has become a very toxic place for proud Jews and the world must not look away.”
Savetsky pointed out how hate speech like the comments she receives online can end in real violence – and even murder.
“My family has received numerous death threats, not just online, but in physical letters and phone calls,” she said. “While we take these threats seriously, we will not be stopped by these intimidation tactics. Exposing the hate is my way of saying, ‘You don’t scare me. I’m a proud Jew and I’m not going anywhere.’”
Gold, a standup comedian who jokes about Jewish topics, held up a sign that said, “Genocidal tw—s” and said he would “do anything to promote awareness on the alarming global trend towards Jew hate. Even if that means exhibiting my fat face that my own Face ID can’t recognize. Don’t worry, I’ve lost weight since that pic. But I’m also losing faith in humanity. I at least hope to gain that back. The faith. Not the fat face.”
Jokes aside, Goldin and his team made a strong push to get the celebrities involved. They sent out hundreds of emails to publicists trying to get their talent to sign on, and he texted his influential friends and urged them to participate.
“The amount of rejection I’ve faced trying to get people to be part of this is truly destabilizing,” he said. “I have screenshots of every rejection email I received. It took me half a year and so much overcoming my self-doubt to make this idea come to a reality. The number of times I wanted to give up but continued pushing on was frequent.”
But he believed in the project, and so did his friends. Eventually, their hard work paid off.
“It really was a group effort,” Goldin said.
High Hopes for Artists Against Antisemitism
Goldin has very serious goals for his campaign. He hopes to empower Jewish youth and show them that influential people have their back; to normalize celebrities, especially non-Jewish ones, not being afraid to stand up to Jew hatred; make an impact with social campaigns that run with every campaign launch; and fundraise for Holocaust survivors who are living in poverty. So far, it hasn’t been easy – but the results are worth it.
Goldin also hopes that more celebrities speak up.
“You’d be surprised at the amount of A-list celebrities who told me ‘I support you, but it’s not smart for me to speak up right now,’ he said. “I understand how scary it is to speak out. I understand how if you’ve worked for years to get to a certain point in your career how terrifying it can be to open your mouth to receive hate, lose opportunities or even be canceled. I get it. I really do. But at what point are you sacrificing your integrity and values? If you’ve spoken out about every other social movement but failed to even condemn Oct. 7, that’s eye-opening and not OK.”
Some celebs on Goldin’s shortlist for his next campaign are Scarlett Johannson, Natalie Portman, Zoey Deschanel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Floyd Mayweather, Daniel Radcliffe and Pink. He’s going to keep working hard to get them, as well as other Jewish celebrities and allies, involved.
For now, he has a message for all the celebrities and influencers who have yet to speak up: “We all want this war to be over, our hostages to be released, and innocent bloodshed to end, but even forget Israel or Gaza for a second,” he said. “It shouldn’t be controversial or political to condemn a terrorist attack or to speak up for hostages. It shouldn’t be controversial or political to speak out against Jew-hatred.”
