On July 19, 2023, I signed a contract with a literary agency to represent my memoir OUT FROM THE SHADOWS. I was ecstatic. The agent indicated that he would not be pitching it until after Labor Day because so many editors were away from the office. The contract required the agency to begin sending it out within 30 days of signing but delaying made sense. The agent who happened to be Jewish and suggested delaying until after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because he was going to be out of the office. This pushed the timing of submissions until October.

Then October 7 happened, and the world changed overnight. Within few weeks, my agent quit the industry. He left me to deal with the agency’s VP. She seemed nice and supportive. She asked me to send her the manuscript. A month later, she got back to me. The agency was not prepared to meet their contractual obligations. She wrote, “I am afraid I am not the right agent to represent this project going forward and feel you should begin looking for representation from another agent/agency.”

There was no doubt that was about me, a Jew, writing a book with Jewish content. No wonder my agent had quit. I was convinced that I had been dropped because I was Jewish which might explain why my original agent quit. I was upset and angry. The agency had my manuscript and book proposal for six months and done nothing for me. I’ve never named the agency and now I’m thinking why am I protecting them. They should be called out. It was The Seymour Agency. They had turned down a book that has turned out to be a success. It has been one of the top selling Holocaust and Jewish memoirs on Amazon for three months.

In every sphere of the arts, Jews are being canceled for being Jews. “Zionist” has become a dirty word, used to label anyone who supports Israel. Jewish authors have been reporting attempts to “cancel” them in the literary world. They’ve ranged from posting a series of negative book reviews, sometimes before the book is even published, to canceled talks and retracted invitations to literary events.

Author Edie Jarolim wrote, “This censorship list – because that’s what it is – chills me to the bone. I have been trying to tell people what the world is like for Jewish writers these days. Apparently expressing anything less than a call for the destruction of Israel puts you on the ‘do not read’ list.” It’s not much different than the book burning of Jewish authors by Nazi Germany.

Writer Elisa Albert was canceled because she was a Zionist Jew. She was supposed to be on a panel to discuss four women’s books at the University of Albany’s New York State Writer’s Festival. This had nothing to do with Zionism or Israel. This is the kind of cancelation that seems to reflect a growing wave of anti-Semitism. The arts community has become an echo chamber.

When a screenwriter wanted to option the rights for TV, they were advised that “nothing Jewish is getting up on Netflix”. She recalls being told that even Spielberg’s not getting anything through.

If Spielberg is struggling, what hope do the rest of us have?

In October, Debra Messing, David Mamet and Diane Warren are among the more than 1000 literary and entertainment industry figures to sign an open letter released by the non-profit entertainment industry organization Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) to oppose the boycott of Israeli publishing houses and Jewish authors.

Jewish musicians have been boycotted, and their concerts have been canceled. A black Jewish Israeli rapper, Noah Shufutinsky receives threats every day on social media. “I wake up to a new death threat surrounding just my relationship to my country, to my homeland, and to my culture…”

Michael Rapaport, an outspoken Jewish comedian, recently had his sold-out performance canceled in Madison, Wisconsin. The venue listed the ongoing protests in the area and concern for the audience’s safety as reasons for cancelation. When Jerry Seinfeld was chosen to speak at the commencement ceremony at Duke University, the school received complaints and requests to replace Seinfeld due to his outspoken support for Israel. The ceremony took place as planned, but when Seinfeld stepped up to the podium, dozens of students walked out, booing and chanting “Free Palestine.”

Though the arts scene for Jews looks downright depressing, we refuse to be silent.

Joseph Goebbels must be looking down on us and smiling.