Ilana Glazer was supposed to host an event at the Union Temple Synagogue in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, until anti-Semitic messages were found on walls throughout the building. The messages were everywhere — they said “Kill The Jews,” “Insert Oven Here,” “Jew Better Be Ready,” “Hitler,” among others.
Before cancelling the event, the Broad City star told the crowd that had come to hear her speak, “Thank you for coming tonight, we have a situation that’s not presenting any immediate danger, but there were hateful, anti-Semitic [messages] scrawled all over the space today, very recently, like in the past couple hours. So we don’t feel safe.”
Coming only five days after Pittsburgh, it’s heartbreaking to see this prevalence of anti-Semitism throughout the country.
On Democracy Now! this morning, Glazer explained her decision. “Last night, it was hard to tell,” but she felt that she couldn’t “put these 200 people in that danger.”
“What was scary was that it was all over the building,” Glazer said. “It was too freaky to hold it.”
Glazer trusted her gut – she did not want to put anyone at risk, or in an unsafe space. She reiterated later in the interview, “It was scary, it was straight up scary — with the mass shooting last week, it was already eerie to be having these events in a synagogue.”
Yet, Glazer ended on a positive message of solidarity: “My Jewish identity means a lot to me, and I implore other Jews to align themselves who are also othered in this country. This country was built on the backs of black and brown bodies. And Jews are in this weird, middle space — but we are all othered. But as a unit, we are strong and can stand up and make change in these midterm elections.”
So, go vote. Please.
