More than 450 Jewish creators, producers, actors, and industry figures signed a letter condemning Jonathan Glazer's Oscar speech from last week's ceremony: "We refute our Jewishness being hijacked for the purpose of drawing a moral equivalence between a Nazi regime that sought to exterminate a race of people, and an Israeli nation that seeks to avert its own extermination."
More stories:
Last week at the Oscar ceremony, Jonathan Glazer won the Best International Film award for his "Zone of Interest" movie, depicting a Nazi family in Auschwitz, and gave his political speech: "All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present, not to say look what they did then, but rather look what we do now. Our film shows where dehumanization leads at its worst. It’s shaped all of our past and present."
"Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October — whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?" he said.
Responding to Glazer's speech, the letter circulating Hollywood retorts with: "The use of words like ‘occupation’ to describe an indigenous Jewish people defending a homeland that dates back thousands of years, and has been recognized as a state by the United Nations, distorts history. It gives credence to the modern blood libel that fuels a growing anti-Jewish hatred around the world, in the United States, and in Hollywood."
2 View gallery
Julianna Margulies, Michael Rapaport, Debra Messing
(Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images, Amir Meiri)
Among the signatories of the letter are actors Debra Messing, Tovah Feldshuh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Odeya Rush, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Julianna Margulies, Lisa Edelstein, Mark Feuerstein, Michael Rapaport, writer Amy Sherman-Palladino, director Nancy Spielberg (the sister of the famous director Steven Spielberg who is absent from the list), and director and screenwriter Eli Roth. Israeli Hollywood actors also signed the letter, including Noa Tishby, Moran, and Shani Atias.
The letter continues to differentiate between the State of Israel and the terror organization Hamas. "Every civilian death in Gaza is tragic. Israel is not targeting civilians. It is targeting Hamas. The moment Hamas releases the hostages and surrenders is the moment this heartbreaking war ends. This has been true since the Hamas attacks of October 7th."
Actress Mayim Bialik posted a response to Glazer's speech on her Instagram, "Of course I have opinions about a lot of things that went down at the Oscars both on the red carpet and on the stage but here’s what I’m going to say: I sure wish every single human being at the Oscars would have worn a yellow ribbon to show support for Hamas immediately returning the hostages who have been held since they were seized from their homes on October 7- including American citizens. The cease fire offer on the table demands the return of captive women, elderly, and the injured. It has been rejected by Hamas. #BringThemHome"