Actors Joaquin Phoenix, Debra Winger, Chloe Fineman and about 150 other Jewish Hollywood creators signed a letter Friday defending director Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar acceptance speech last month, saying critics It saw Israel as equating it with Nazism and Hamas.
The open letter denounces the suppression of speech within Hollywood that criticizes Glazer, saying, “The attacks on Glazer have the effect of silencing our industry and denying the very quality of speech that our field should cherish. “It is contributing to a broader climate of suppressing freedom and dissent.”
According to Hollywood Outlet varietyother signatories of the letter include directors Todd Haynes and Joel Coen, actors Hari Nef and David Cross, and IndieWire film critic David Ehrlich.
“We are Jewish artists, filmmakers, writers, and creative professionals who support Jonathan Glazer’s comments for the 2024 Oscars,” the letter said. I was alarmed when I saw that he was falsely accusing the government.”
Holocaust Survivors Foundation slams Oscar winner who equates Israel with Hamas as ‘morally indefensible’
Jews in Hollywood recently signed an open letter defending director Jonathan Glazer’s controversial Oscar speech in which he condemned the Israel-Hamas war. (1. Bravo / Contributor 2. Rodin Eckenroth / Stringer 3. Carlos Alvarez / Contributor)
This appears to be a direct response to a letter of opposition signed by more than 1,000 Jewish Hollywood creators condemning Glazer’s speech shortly after the March 10 ceremony. The message accused the director of “The Zone of Interest” of promoting “growing anti-Semitic hatred around the world.”
Director Glaser gave a high-profile speech after winning the Academy Award for Best International Feature for his film about the life of a Nazi SS commander and his family living next to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. Ta.
In his speech, Glazer linked the film’s Holocaust theme to Israel’s “occupation” of the Palestinian people, blaming it for years of Middle East “conflicts” including the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and the Gaza War. It seems so.
“Our film shows how dehumanization can go to its worst,” Glazer said. “Right now, we stand here as people who speak out against what it means to be Jewish and how the Holocaust has been hijacked by the occupation. Many innocent people are linked to the conflict, whether they are victims of the ongoing attack on Gaza.” Victims of this dehumanization, how can we resist? ”
In response to Mr. Glaser’s speech, a group of 1,000 Jewish creators said, “We are committed to the moral conflict between the Nazi regime, which seeks to exterminate a race, and the State of Israel, which seeks to avoid it.” We object to the hijacking of our Jewishness in order to derive equivalence.” It is their own extinction. ”
Michael Rapaport, Debra Messing and 450 other Jewish celebrities join in condemning Oscar winner’s speech
Debra Messing, Julianna Margulies and Michael Rapaport were among the prominent Jewish entertainers who condemned director Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar speech about Israel. (Getty Images)
The signatories of the March letter went on to say that “the use of words like ‘occupation’ to describe the indigenous Jewish people defending their homeland, which dates back thousands of years and is recognized as a state by the United Nations, is historically It distorts it,” he continued. The current climate of growing anti-Semitism only emphasizes the need for a Jewish state of Israel, where it will remain forever. Embrace us as no country did during the Holocaust depicted in Mr. Glaser’s film. ”
Hollywood’s new letter on Friday dissects his speech’s detractors and condemns Israel’s war effort, saying, “The attack on Glaser has already killed more than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza, and many more.” “It is a dangerous distraction from Israel’s escalating military campaign, which is putting 100,000 people on the brink of starvation.” ”
“In his speech, Mr. Glazer asked how we can resist the dehumanization that has led to mass atrocities throughout history. That such remarks are taken as an insult only emphasizes the urgency of that.” “We should be able to name what is recognized as both Israeli apartheid and occupation,” he continued, “by leading human rights organizations without being accused of rewriting history.”
The letter goes on to say, “We are proud Jews, and we have used our Jewish identity to justify what many international law experts, including leading Holocaust scholars, have labeled an ‘ongoing genocide.’ We condemn the weaponization of identity and the memory of the Holocaust.”
Relatives of Holocaust victims strengthen women’s groups’ silence on Hamas atrocities: ‘Terrible’
Police officers evacuate a woman and child from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, October 7, 2023. The rockets were fired as Hamas announced new operations against Israel. (AP Photo/Tsafril Abayov)
The dueling letters over Glazer’s speech are just the latest in a series of Hollywood declarations critical of and supportive of Israel’s military action against Hamas.
In late October, actors Gal Gadot, Bradley Cooper, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, and hundreds of other Hollywood celebrities signed an open letter condemning Hamas and urging President Biden to release all hostages. did.
A few days earlier, a separate letter signed by more than 50 Hollywood A-listers, including Cate Blanchett and Joaquin Phoenix, urged Biden and other world leaders to “remove the lives of Palestinians and Israeli civilians. He urged Israel and Hamas to negotiate a cease-fire “to prevent further killings.” ”
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