A London tattoo artist has faced a surge of antisemitic messages and death threats since October 7, after sharing posts about Jewish festivals on his Instagram.
Adam Silas, a professional tattoo artist with six years of experience, works in a Soho studio. Recently, he received a message from a client canceling an appointment due to his Jewish identity.
The former client’s message read, “It has come to my attention that you are Jewish. Is this true? If so, I’m afraid I will have to cancel our appointment as I can’t in good conscience be tattooed by you at the moment, given the current political climate. I’m sure you understand. I wouldn’t be so bold as to ask for my deposit back but I would humbly ask that you donate it to a humanitarian cause. Hopefully, there will be a permanent ceasefire soon so we can reschedule.”
Silas said this was the only cancellation he had received due to his background. “That was what was so shocking about it because everything up to that point had just been horrible antisemitic messages since October 7,” he said. “It’s very disheartening. Every time I get a message it really affects me and that feeling stays with you. I can’t overstate how much it’s affected me mentally.”
One post from Silas, which said, “Check in with your Jewish friends. We’re not doing well” in reference to rising antisemitism, was met with a response saying, “You will all burn in hell soon” along with a laughing emoji and Palestinian flags.
When Silas wished his followers Happy Chanukah, one person responded with, “insha’Allah your house burns down with you inside it.” Another said, “We get it. You’re a Jew. Stop clogging up my feed with this s****.” Silas noted that he avoids posting anything overtly political on his business account, although he does share pictures of Chanukah candles and his family Seder table.
“I’m open about my Jewish identity. It’s very separate from anything political, as it should be. But unfortunately, people make links when they want to. My Instagram is my work profile, it’s my portfolio and it’s where I do business. So I feel like I can put my Jewish identity up there, but I know I don’t want to see anyone’s political opinions on their work Instagram,” he said.
Silas mentioned that the tattoo industry is experiencing a quiet period, and he posted about it on his account. One person replied, “It’s good to know that your bookings are slow. It means that the boycott is working.”
“Are we boycotting just Jewish people?” Silas questioned. “Is that what’s happening? Every time that Israel is in the news, it’s a vessel for antisemitism.”
Among his diverse designs, Silas has created some Jewish-themed tattoos for his clients, including Magen Davids and Hebrew script. “My clients always say they’re grateful that they could find a Jewish artist to do it,” he said.
He has also created humorous cartoons for Jewish people who don’t want to get a tattoo but want prints. However, one cartoon captioned “less Hamas more hummus” caused him to lose several followers and received negative comments.
“It’s mad how many people could be offended by the suggestion that hummus is superior to Hamas,” he said. “My tattoos are very cartoony, very happy, very silly. I like drawing stuff because it makes me smile. So for someone to see that and decide, ‘I’m going to abuse this person,’ it just boggles the mind – I can’t get inside that mindset. All I’m trying to do is spread a bit of joy and my clients are very appreciative of what I do.”