A thousand Hollywood insiders denounce Jonathan Glazer's speech at the Oscars because it “fuels hatred against Jews” | culture

Even though it's been almost 10 days since the Oscars, the awards show is still going strong in Hollywood. This is the case with the speech that Jonathan Glazer gave on the night of his film awards Area of ​​interest It won the Best International Film award (the category in which it competed with the Spanish film). Snow Association, written by Juan Antonio Bayona, among others) for its extremely harsh portrayal of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The British and Jewish director raised his voice at a ceremony that had so far been white and full of simple jokes to talk about the conflict between Israel and Gaza, in the only reference to it of the night. However, these words seem not to have gone down well in Jewish and ultra-conservative Hollywood. So far, about a thousand names from Los Angeles culture have signed a letter complaining about what Glazer said.

The specialized medium in the audio-visual industry diverse He managed to get access to the letter, which was initially signed by 450 people, and by Tuesday afternoon there were already a thousand people, which includes actors such as Debra Messing, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Rapaport, Eli Roth, and Julianna Margulies (who went on to In December through controversy when he had to apologize for offending the black and LGBT communities by accusing them of anti-Semitism on a podcast (by directors like Rod Lurie)Outpost), creators like Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), producers like Amy Pascal (Little Women, Spider-Man: Multiverse crossover), Gary Gilbert (La la land, the boys are fine(And Lawrence Bender)Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Villains), executives such as Gary Barber, who was president and CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, screenwriters, musicians, songwriters, video game creators, photographers, distributors, publicists or artist representatives.

The statement said: “We reject the hijacking of our Judaism for the purpose of establishing a moral equation between the Nazi regime, which sought to exterminate a race of people, and the Israeli nation, which seeks to prevent its extermination.” He continues: “Every civilian death in Gaza is a tragedy. Israel does not target civilians. Their target is Hamas. The moment Hamas releases the hostages and surrenders, this horrific war will end. This has been true since the Hamas attacks on October 7th. Using words like occupation to describe an indigenous Jewish people defending a homeland that dates back thousands of years and has been recognized by the United Nations as a nation distorts history. It gives credence to the modern bloody libel that fuels the growing hatred against Jews around the world, in the United States and Hollywood. The current climate of rising anti-Semitism underscores the need for a Jewish state of Israel, a place that will always welcome us, as no other state did during the Holocaust depicted in Glazer's film.

The message contradicts the words Glazer said during the concert, which did not spark a wave of approval among the audience present at the Dolby Theater. He added: “All our decisions were taken to reflect the present and confront it, not to say, 'Look what they did then, but look what we are doing now.'” “Our film shows where dehumanization takes us,” Glazer said on stage with his producers. “Right now, we stand here as men who refuse to have their Judaism and the Holocaust hijacked by an occupation that has pushed so many innocent people into conflict, whether they were the victims of October 7 in Israel or the ongoing attack.” In Gaza.” Unless it was little more than a relatively tepid and calm speech, which received enough applause, beyond that of some enthusiasts like Mark Ruffalo (who, like Billie Eilish or Ava DuVernay, put a pin on his lapel to demand the fire be stopped), these days have turned It turned into a big snowball that offended the Jewish community, which is widely present in positions of power in the City of Stars.

As shown in diverse One of the signatories, Ilana Vernick, is a producer among others Modern family And Till death do us part“Unfortunately, hatred against the Jews prevailed.” “That's why so many of us in the industry reached out to each other. It was a very sad and terrifying night. Writing the letter was not only a cathartic process, it was something we had to do. It's important to advocate for peace, and we “We all do it, but in this conflict, misinformation only prolongs the war. Unfortunately, his comments gave legitimacy to propaganda networks interested in prolonging the war to demonize the Jewish people.” Hollywood Reporterone of the major entertainment media outlets in the United States, producer Richard Trank, winner of the 1997 Academy Award for the documentary The long road homespecifically about the creation of the State of Israel, called Glazer's speech “arrogant”: “Many Jews around the world were outraged and disgusted by what the Oscar winner said. And in joining that group, I would say that if we're going to resist or refute anything, it's Statements like those made by Jonathan Glazer.”

Monday after the director's speech Area of ​​interest (Adapted from the novel by Martin Amis, who watched the finished film shortly before his death), Israel's Minister of Diaspora and Combating Anti-Semitism, Amijay Shekli, commented on the social network in the name of the useful idiot in the service who chose last night to stick a knife in the back of his own people, With a photo of Glazer, whom he described as an “anti-Semitic Jew” and “unforgivable.” Former UN Ambassador and MP Danny Danon, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu's same Likud party, said it was “a shame that a Jewish director took advantage of the stage he was given to make anti-Semitic statements compared to 'the Holocaust to war.'” “It was inevitable that it would be imposed on us.” Several Jewish organizations in the United States also criticized Glazer's words: “Israel is not hijacking Judaism or the Holocaust by defending itself against genocidal terrorists,” so the rhetoric is “factually incorrect and morally reprehensible,” the Anti-Defamation League said.