The pro-Israel group Israeli-American Council took issue with Oprah Winfrey today regarding her social media posts about the terror attack near Sydney, pointing out her failure to acknowledge the Jewish identity of the victims, the festival of Hanukkah, or the antisemitic motivation.
With a combined audience of tens of millions, Winfrey shared, "I just spent the last 2 weeks in Australia, walking Bondi just days ago feeling the openness and ease that lives there. It's hard to reconcile that sense of peace with the terror of last night. My heart breaks for the victims, their families and loved ones, and all you Aussies," according to IAC.
Elan S. Carr, serving as CEO of the IAC following his tenure as US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, commented on the omission. "Oprah's neglect to name the actual targets and victims of the attack – Jews celebrating Hanukkah – conceals both the true nature of this horrific event and the appalling surge in antisemitism that gave rise to it," he said, per IAC. The CEO continued, "For a public figure to express sorrow over the attack without saying that it was an antisemitic mass murder of Jews during their celebration of a holiday is precisely the sort of misguided obfuscation that allows antisemitism to flourish."
The organization indicated that Carr extended an offer to meet with the media mogul to address Jewish community anxieties and the broader issue of hatred.
"I invite Oprah to meet with us and discuss the ongoing epidemic of antisemitism since Oct. 7, our response, and how she can use her enormous influence to make a difference in this fight," Carr stated in the release. The statement concluded with his assertion that "All decent people must take a principled and forceful stand not only against all forms of hate, but against Jew-hatred specifically."
