Portland's Jewish Tax

Regina Spektor acts normally. I guess she didn't get the memo.

Regina Spektor played a show at Revolution Hall last Saturday Night. Someone in the audience heckled her and was escorted out. A few more attendees joined the heckling and were also asked to leave. Finally, a small group of audience members left in solidarity... with the hecklers. Spektor commented briefly and resumed the show.

That doesn’t really feel like NEWS, does it?

The issue is that Spektor is Jewish, but not the “good” kind of Jew who knows to condemn Israel in order to gain the approval of upstanding moral folks like City Councilors Candace Avalos and Angelita Morillo. She’s the “bad” kind of Jew, with nuanced views drawn from her own life and the stories of her family and community.

Spektor has released 8 studio albums. You’ve heard her music on television and even NPR for years. She and her family left the Soviet Union in 1989 to escape antisemitism (along with the other horrors of Communism). Before October 7th, there was no controversy around Regina Spektor in this country. She was loved. I wonder what changed...

You can watch the entire interaction here. Spektor carries herself well and gets back to the show after being interrupted. The heckling is gross, but people heckle. There’s not much of a story here, until you consider the broader context.

Let’s look at the headlines first:

The Oregonian: ‘This is not an internet comments section’: Pro-Palestine protests interrupt Portland Regina Spektor show

Rolling Stone: Regina Spektor Confronts Pro-Palestine Protestors at Concert: ‘You’re Just Yelling at a Jew’ The protestors disrupted singer’s show in Portland, Oregon, over the weekend

Fox News: Regina Spektor show interrupted by anti-Israel protesters screaming, ‘Free f------ Palestine!’ Multiple audience members yelled 'Free Palestine' during singer's Saturday performance at Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon

and finally Portland Mercury’s Palestine Supporters Walk Out of Regina Spektor’s Portland Show with it’s phenomenal subhead: “Spektor reacted strongly when a pro-Palestine protester interrupted the show at Revolution Hall. Then, others were asked to leave for expressing support for Gaza.”

Taylor Griggs has outdone herself. She even had seemingly immediate access to a witness named “Nadia.”

Nadia, who spoke to the Mercury on the condition that her last name be withheld out of fear of retribution, didn’t know about Spektor’s stance on Israel. But she was disturbed by what unfolded after a pro-Palestine protester briefly interrupted the artist a few songs into her set, apparently attempting to get onto the stage. The protester was quickly whisked away by security.

I’m not sure Nadia exists. I’ve never known Griggs to be honest and I have no memory of the Mercury showing editorial standards before.¹ It’s a tabloid of the worst kind and the propaganda arm of the DSA.

The Oregonian had their own “Nadia,” but her name is Mandi Kercher and she is a very real, very stupid person.

“I would never recommend her music or her concert,” Kercher said. “And furthermore, I’m upset at people in Portland because you always hear that question of ‘What, what would you do?’ And now we know that people would just choose their comfort.”

Just a little Holocaust inversion! We love it.² Kercher is a PSU School of Social Work grad, and I will stand by my claim that no one intelligent ever came out of that program. Thinking goes there to die.

Spektor’s “stance on Israel,” by the way, is that she shouldn’t be bombed out of existence. Controversial, I know. Yassine Meskhout had a “fun” observation about Spektor’s Wikipedia page. It’s almost like there’s a creepy anti-Israel/Jewish bias popping up all over the place.

Anyway back to Griggs:

After a few minutes of debriefing, Nadia said she tried to find a Revolution Hall staffer to ask about getting a refund, as she and her partner felt like they were “basically asked to leave for having a conscience.”

Nadia, if you exist and you’re reading this: fuck off. You were invited to leave for disrupting a concert. If I went to a Beyoncé show and screamed about sweatshop t-shirts I would get kicked out and deserve it. You wasted your money and everyone else’s time.

Nadia also said a security guard told her that the venue had expected something like this to happen at Spektor’s show, and were told to be prepared for it.

And there is our real story. How did they know to expect it?

The Tax

The Jewish or Antisemitism Tax is the additional security cost and risk all Jewish communities, businesses, and institutions must shoulder since October 7th.

To simply be Jewish, out loud and in public, amplifies risk. There’s seemingly one way out of it: denounce Israel. Join the JVP. Cut the ADL out of schools. Become a debased, pathetic creature like Miriam Margolyes. Throw our people under the bus and apologize for existing so brilliantly. Recite your Litany of Contrition. Maybe they won’t kill us this time?³

You could also keep your head down and feign ignorance. Pretend this is still just about Israel. Pretend that the “pro-Palestine” movement hasn’t been infected by hate. Pretend not to see the swastikas and the Nazi salutes. Pretend “globalize the Intifada” could mean anything other than what it does.

The Context

We have a problem in this city with Jews holding microphones.

January 12-14th 2024: outspoken supporter of Israel, comedian, and actor Michael Rapaport performed standup at Helium - PROTESTED. (the Mercury justified this as well)

February 26th 2024: peace activist and reggae/hiphop artist Matisyahu whose most successful song is about peace and an end to bloodshed - PROTESTED.

February 2nd 2025: Senator Ron Wyden held a book event at the Newmark Theater - PROTESTED.

March 15th-21st 2025: The Jerusalem Quartet was hosted by Friends of Chamber Music at PSU - PROTESTED.⁴

July 26th, 2025: singer-songwriter Regina Spektor performed two nights at Revolution Hall - PROTESTED.

I couldn’t find an example of an Israeli or Jewish artist performing in Portland since October 7th who haven’t been protested. It doesn’t matter if you’re a loud firebrand like Rapaport, a peace activist like Matisyahu, or someone in the middle like Wyden or Spektor. You could say absolutely nothing and just be from Israel like the Jerusalem Quartet — it’s all the same to this crowd. Condemn Israel and recognize a Palestinian State in her place or we are coming for you. No Zionists allowed.

Griggs goes on to list the most recent “facts” one might hate Israel for — as if this somehow contextualizes harassing Jews in Portland. If only you would read some Haaretz article they purposely mistranslated or a New York Times story they issued a correction for. Maybe drink straight from the firehose of TikTok propaganda. You will surely see why these Jews must be screamed at.⁵ They must answer for Israel’s crimes, both real and imagined. They can’t be allowed to perform in our city without reciting the Litany of Contrition.

Spektor’s next show in Seattle went great. It was safe and fun. Good job radical losers. If artists aren’t getting their vans broken into and their instruments stolen, we’ll scream at them for being incorrectly Jewish. Don’t play shows here. It’s not worth the trouble.

The Less Famous

So artists and politicians can’t catch a break in Portland if they're Jewish. That’s bad, but how does it ripple out into the broader community? What about those of us who don’t have agents or security staff? Those of us who actually live here?

It’s much worse. That shouldn’t shock you.

Don’t Be Coy

In the Mercury piece justifying the targeting of Michael Rapaport, we were introduced to Lynsea Coy, owner of Coy & Co Curatorial Floral. She’s also the creator of those “Rene Gonzalez is a skank ass bitch” yard signs. The Merc paints her as a victim of Rapaport’s harassment. She’s a successful florist who works with a number of big Portland brands, not a private figure. Unfortunately for those businesses, Coy is also a deranged antisemitic weirdo.

Her hobby is targeting local Jewish business owners for harassment. She even harasses Angelita Morillo for not being sufficiently anti-“Israeli.”⁶ This story hasn’t gotten mainstream attention because the targets of her harassment don’t want to go on record. They keep their heads down. Go follow her Instagram account and watch her stories. It gets pretty extreme.

She had a Palestine (or Falastine as she has learned to say⁷) themed wedding. She has inverted triangles tattooed on her chest. This has become her identity. The war has given her license to feed a hatred which has very little (if anything) to do with Palestinians. We will revisit Lynsea in the future, because she doesn’t seem to be slowing down. She belongs on a watch list.

The Invisible Hatred

I covered the rise of antisemitic hate crimes in Portland back in They’re So Close, but that was February and there have been so many more since then, not to mention national murders and various other attempts. Here’s a new one:

Portland police ask public’s help to ID man who drew swastika on storefront - Oregonian. You can find the PPB info here.

Another local Jewish business hit with a swastika. Notice how the business isn’t named? Just like Coy’s targets, no one wants their identity out there. I can tell you they have no obvious connection to Israel other than being Jewish.

I’ve spoken to Jewish business owners who’ve had windows broken, mezuzahs stolen, creepy phone calls, threatening weirdos entering their shops, and many other stories that would shock you but also identify the victims. I’ve spoken to parents of children who were threatened in school. Most don’t publicize this stuff. They’re exhausted and scared. They want to be left alone.

Those reports showing bias crime against Jews are exploding? It’s likely much worse than the data shows. Of course, the Portland Mercury doesn’t care about that. Zionists like me are just canceling/censoring people.

From Griggs, again:

But none of that seemed to be on the minds of the audience at Spektor’s Portland show. And, as Nadia and her partner saw it, Spektor and the venue both participated in quashing dissenting voices, even when they were respectful and calm.

So the Palestine Exception is correct? The mean old Jews won’t let you turn up at all of their events and scream at them, or interrupt them anytime they speak? What about your free speech, man?

Grigg’s colleague Kevin Foster (one of the producers of the Palestine Exception) tried to paint me as “staunchly against anything pro-Palestine.”

He’s spot on with his first two claims⁸, but on Palestine...

You aren’t being “pro-Palestine” kids. You’re being antisemitic sacks of shit.

I need you to leave Jews alone. Simple as.

• Harassing Jews.

• Shutting down/attempting to shut down Jewish events.

• Creating lists of Jews for distribution.

• Calling for the destruction of the only Jewish nation.

• Vandalizing our holy places/symbols.

• Boycotting or vandalizing our businesses.

• Threatening our children.

• Waving flags and banners or reciting chants which call for our deaths — whether you understand them or not.

• Erasing or lying about easily verified historical facts.

• Holocaust denial OR inversion.

• Celebrating terrorists and mocking victims.

• Killing Jews while screaming about Palestine.⁹

• Ignoring the killing of Jews by people who look and sound just like you — same chants, same costume, same “cause.”

Every one of the “main characters” in Portland’s never-ending campaign “for Palestine” have engaged in, celebrated, or downplayed the items on that list. They have failed completely to separate themselves from those actions.

If your argument is that any or all of those things are “pro-Palestine?”¹⁰ Then, to you, Palestine is nothing more than flags, keffiyehs, and violence. That’s a big problem.

If you are truly passionate about any sort of Palestinian cause, go take a look at groups like Realign for Palestine. Go work with them and focus on peace. Go research and learn about history from reliable sources. We can have fruitful debates when you stop being an ignorant bigot.

You won’t. Because you don’t care about Palestine. You didn’t even know where Israel was on a map in 2020. You just like having permission to hurt someone (Jews) and feel morally superior. You aren’t.

Am I wrong? Prove it. It would be the greatest pleasure of my life to be wrong on this point. I am done with being right.

1. They did take down the infamous Kooks Burritos story after their writer “Jagger Blaec” ruined the reputation of + unleashed a torrent of harassment against two women who had done nothing wrong. You think you hate the Mercury, but you have only scratched the surface of how fucking awful these people are.

2. We do not, in fact, love it. Mandi, call your mother and apologize for being a moral and intellectual failure.

3. These people already think America has fallen to fascism. They’re high as shit just to get through the day. They aren’t fighters. Stand up to them.

4. Richard Cheverton attended one of their shows and wrote this lovely piece.

5. Because all Jews must be screamed at. They need to know their place.

6. More shades of AOC.

7. Arabic doesn’t have a ‘pah’ sound. Don’t pull too many threads, the whole thing is very fragile, like a sweatshop keffiyeh.

8. WFP is a shell org for funneling billionaire money and the DSA is a hate organization.

9. That should be obvious but here we are.

10. By any means necessary, after all.