‘You guys are evil,’ antisemitic heckler shouts at US Jewish comedian

The Jewish comedian Lucas Zelnick on Wednesday posted footage of an antisemitic heckler shouting at him onstage, the latest in a series of incidents in which Jewish comics in the US have been targeted.

Zelnick is a stand-up comic based in New York City who discusses his Jewish identity in his routines.

The footage showed the audience member shouting at Zelnick, “I’m against Jews.”

Zelnick reacted incredulously, then asked her for clarification as he and other audience members reacted with shock, and he cracked jokes about her comments.

“You guys are evil,” the woman said, “considering what’s happening in Palestine.”

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“But that’s not all Jews. Like I’m here, right? And I’m pro-Palestine,” Zelnick said. “There are a lot of Jews being naughty in Israel right now, but it’s not all Jews, and it’s not because they’re Jews.”

Zelnick said her comments were “the craziest thing I’ve ever heard at a show where people have come specifically to see me. I so talk about being Jewish all the time.”

He asked the woman if she was a “young leftist,” to which the woman demanded he provide her an “answer” and “more depth.”

“Why am I on the hook for explaining to you why one religion of people aren’t all evil at the individual level?” he said. “I care about being Jewish. I think what’s happening in Israel is horrible, but those are two different things.”

Other audience members took Zelnick’s side, asking for the woman to be ejected from the show.

Zelnick asked the woman for more “nuances” and she walked out.

It wasn’t clear from the footage where the show took place. Zelnick’s recent performances were in New York, Minnesota and California.

Other Jewish comedians have been subjected to antisemitic heckling while onstage in the US in recent years.

The comic Mike Glazer posted footage last year showing a heckler calling him a “Jew pig” and a “Jew fuck,” and saying, “We support Donald Trump in this country.”

In April, an audience member shouted, “You’re a Jew,” at comedian Judy Gold during a performance in New York City.

Anti-Zionist protesters have repeatedly heckled Jerry Seinfeld, an outspoken advocate for Israel, in recent performances.

Eitan Levine, a Jewish comedian in New York City, told The Times of Israel on Thursday that antisemitic harassment of Jewish comedians is not common, but the “fact that it’s happening at all is new.”

Levine, who often speaks about Israel and Jewish issues, said he believes most of the public has “totally normal, milquetoast views on Israel, on Jews,” but that some have subscribed to antisemitic tropes and conspiracies and “it’s impossible to ignore.”

“Some of these people are getting empowered to speak up in places where they wouldn’t have been empowered to speak up before,” he said. “As much as it’s not happening often, the fact that it is happening is crazy.”

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