More than 400 Jewish creators and Hollywood professionals signed an open letter on Monday condemning recent Oscar-winning director Jonathan Glaser’s speech denying his “Jewishness.”
A number of Jewish creators in Hollywood rallied behind an open letter to Glaser. The open letter criticized Glaser’s speech on March 11, after he took to the stage after winning the International Film Award for “The Zone of Interest,” in which he advocated for a ceasefire in Gaza. Based on the Holocaust according to For variety. The source of the letter is unknown, but a list of key supporters was provided to the outlet.
Actors such as Debra Messing and Tovah Feldshuh, executives such as Gary Barber and Gail Berman, directors Eli Roth and Rod Lurie, producers Lawrence Bender, Amy Pascal, Hawk Koch, Shelley Lansing, Jake Fenton, president of United Talent Agency, and creators such as Amy Sherman. All Mr. Palladino signed the letter. (Related article: Director Jonathan Glazer says he wants to “refute” his own “Jewishness” during the Gaza war)
“We believe that our Jewishness has been hijacked to draw moral equivalence between the Nazi regime, which seeks to exterminate a race, and the State of Israel, which seeks to avoid its own annihilation. Every civilian death in Gaza is tragic. Israel is not targeting civilians. It is targeting Hamas. The moment Hamas released the hostages and surrendered was a tragic moment. “This is the moment when this war ends. This has been true since the Hamas attack on October 7,” the letter said.
More than 450 Jewish creators, executives and Hollywood professionals have signed an open letter condemning Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar speech for “The Zone of Interest.” https://t.co/nA5zDAk9N0
— Variety (@Variety) March 18, 2024
“Using words like ‘occupation’ to describe indigenous Jewish people defending a homeland that dates back thousands of years and is recognized as a nation by the United Nations is a distortion of history. “It lends credence to the modern-day bloody libel that fuels growing anti-Semitic hatred in China, the United States, and Hollywood,” the letter continues. “The current situation of rising anti-Semitism underscores the need for a Jewish state, Israel, to always embrace us, just as no nation did during the Holocaust depicted in Glaser’s film. It’s just there.”
During Glazer’s speech, the director said he rejected the “occupation hijacking” of the Holocaust, claiming that Israel had occupied Palestinian territory, condemning it and calling it inhuman to both groups. It was pointed out that this was a serious act.
“All of our choices are made to reflect and confront who we are today. Rather than say, ‘Look what they did then,’ we would rather see what we do now. Look at what you’re doing.” Our film shows the worst dehumanization can do,” Glazer said with producer James Wilson by his side. “Now we stand here as refutations of Jewishness and the holocaust, which has been hijacked by a profession that has caused conflict for so many innocent people.”
Some fellow Hollywood creatives, such as actor Mark Ruffalo, supported Glazer’s speech, but in addition to signing the letter, others condemned the director online. Glazer has not yet released a public response to the backlash.
