‘He’s an American, You Idiots!’ Social Media Erupts After Protest of Jerry Seinfeld Show Over His Israel Support

Shiryn Ghermezian

Jerry Seinfeld arriving at a US Open tennis match on Sept. 11, 2022. Photo: Anthony Behar/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

Social media users called a large pro-Palestinian protest outside Jerry Seinfeld’s stand-up comedy show in downtown Syracuse, New York, “misguided” and said that targeting him for being an American Jew who supports Israel was antisemitic.

Hundreds of activists reportedly participated in the “Shut It Down for Palestine” demonstration on Friday. The rally was organized by the Syracuse chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the Syracuse Collective for Palestinian Liberation, the Resilient Indigenous Action Collective and the Syracuse chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The protesters marched in front of the Landmark Theatre, where Seinfeld’s stand-up show took place, and called for the event to be shut down because of the Jewish comedian’s support for Israel.

Following the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, Seinfeld joined hundreds of Hollywood celebrities in signing two open letters that condemned Hamas, showed solidarity with Israel, and called for the return of the 240 hostages taken by the Palestinian terrorist organization back to the Gaza Strip. But enraged social media users said this week that protesting Seinfeld’s show in Syracuse made no sense since he is American and not directly tied to Israel or the actions of the Israeli government during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

“Hes [sic] an American you idiots! The pro hamas protesters are so misguided. God help us!” one user on X/Twitter tweeted after the protest, while a separate user wrote that “picketing Jerry Seinfeld for Palestine is the dumbest thing I’ve heard in the last 20 minutes.”

Another user said: “Protesting against Israel at the Seinfeld show in Syracuse? What’s Jerry supposed to do about it? This just in folks, American Jews are, wait for it, American! Blaming us for anything Israel does is Anti-Semitic, pure and simple. It’s gotten out of hand.”

US Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) also commented on the protest. He tweeted that Seinfeld “is an iconic American COMEDIAN who’s also Jewish …  he’s a COMEDIAN not a diplomat or gov official. Stop targeting American Jews. This is wrong.”

“Palestine supporters should NOT be attacking or interfering with a person trying to make a living just because he/she is Jewish” said another user on X.

According to the world’s leading definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel is antisemitic.

The organizers of the Syracuse protest falsely accused Israel of genocide in a statement released on Tuesday, saying that the former Seinfeld star and comedian “is one of several celebrities denying the genocide of Palestinians” for supporting “the fascist IDF’s genocidal bombing of Gaza and its illegal terrorization of the West Bank.”

“Therefore, Palestinian, Arab, Indigenous, and working-class community members could simply not let the show go as usual when more and more of the beautiful lives and stories of Palestinian martyrs are cut short daily by the thousands because of Israel‘s decades-long genocide of Palestinians and Palestine,” the organizers added. “Until Palestine is Free From The River To The Sea, our community will continue to #shutitdown4palestine. An immediate and permanent ceasefire is just the base of our demands. We demand the end to the settler-colonial occupation of both Palestine and Turtle Island.”

The slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” has been widely interpreted as a call for the destruction of Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, and to have it replaced with “Palestine.”