Jewish celebrities support Jonathan Glazer amid continued Oscars speech fallout
Elliot Gould, Joaquin Phoenix, Ilana Glazer, and Debra Winger are among those who signed an open letter in support of the Zone Of Interest director
Aux News Jonathan Glazer
Over a hundred celebrities have signed an open letter in support of Jonathan Glazer, the Zone Of Interest director who used the platform of his Oscars acceptance to make a statement about the ongoing suffering in Palestine. (“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 in his speech.) The letter of support includes signatures from prominent Hollywood figures like Debra Winger, Elliot Gould, David Cross, Wallace Shawn, Joaquin Phoenix, Ilana Glazer, and Abbi Jacobson, among others.
The letter, which can be read in full over at Variety, states in part, “We are Jewish artists, filmmakers, writers and creative professionals who support Jonathan Glazer’s statement from the 2024 Oscars. We were alarmed to see some of our colleagues in the industry mischaracterize and denounce his remarks. Their attacks on Glazer are a dangerous distraction from Israel’s escalating military campaign which has already killed over 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza and brought hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation. We grieve for all those who have been killed in Palestine and Israel over too many decades, including the 1,200 Israelis killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and the 253 hostages taken.”
The letter continues, “The attacks on Glazer also have a silencing effect on our industry, contributing to a broader climate of suppression of free speech and dissent, the very qualities our field should cherish. Glazer, Tony Kushner, Steven Spielberg and countless other artists of all backgrounds have decried the killing of Palestinian civilians. We should all be able to do the same without being wrongly accused of fueling antisemitism.”
In a statement to the outlet, Ilana Glazer said, “I signed this letter to help counter the climate of silencing that many workplaces and industries are facing around Israel’s war on Gaza, now entering its seventh month. This controversy surrounding Jonathan Glazer is just one example.” She is joined in signing the letter by high-profile signatories like filmmakers Joel Coen, Todd Haynes, Lenny Abrahamson, Boots Riley, Nicole Holofcener, Mike Leigh, Ira Sachs, Janicza Bravo, Miranda July, and Emma Seligman as well as actors like Kate Berlant (The Other Two), Lola Kirke (Mistress America), Tavi Gevinson (Gossip Girl), Chloe Fineman (Saturday Night Live), Ariela Barer (How To Blow Up A Pipeline), Dan Bucatinsky (Scandal), Noah Galvin (The Good Doctor), Hari Nef (Barbie), Sarah Ramos (The Bear), and more.
This open letter comes after weeks of debate and condemnation of Glazer’s speech. A fair amount of criticism came from the misinterpretation—deliberate or otherwise—of Glazer’s remark that “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.” The intention of his words was pared down by some to mean that Glazer was unequivocally “refuting [his] Jewishness,” rather than his desire not to have his identity used as an excuse for continued Israeli aggression. In the wake of the speech, Noa Tishby (The Affair) told Variety, “Glazer’s shocking attempt to blame global issues on his Jewishness and the Holocaust reveals the significant disconnect present among some in Hollywood.”
The backlash consolidated in an open letter signed by Tishby and others—including Jennifer Jason Leigh, Debra Messing, Tovah Feldshuh, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Eli Roth, Julianna Marguiles, and more—which denounced Glazer’s speech. “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,” that letter read. It was reported that the open letter gained over 1,000 signatures of Jewish creatives, though critics pointed out that there was an easily accessible Google Form and no vetting process to add one’s name. (At least one fake name, “Riverto Thesea,” was identified.)
The conflict in Gaza has become one of the most polarizing issues in Hollywood (and certainly beyond). In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attack on October 7, those who spoke up on behalf of Palestinians faced career consequences, including Susan Sarandon being dropped from UTA and the resignation of A-list CAA agent Maha Dakhil. Perhaps most prominently, actor Melissa Barerra was fired from the Scream movies after sharing posts on social media that accused Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleansing.” Scream production company Spyglass said in a statement that her posting “flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
On the other hand, there has been growing support for the Palestinian cause—or at least for an end to violence—as the conflict continues. More than 200 artists (including Bradley Cooper, Alfonso Cuarón, Selena Gomez, Janelle Monáe, Lupita Nyong’o, Jenna Ortega, Mahershala Ali, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Lopez, Rachel McAdams, and more) signed an Artists4Ceasefire letter urging President Joe Biden to “call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel.” Many of these artists wore Artists4Ceasefire pins on the red carpet during awards season and elsewhere to show their support. Ramy Youssef, one of that letter’s signatories, has been vocal about calling for a ceasefire and contributing aid to Gazans; during his recent Saturday Night Live hosting gig, he recited a prayer that included a plea to “Please stop the suffering. Stop the violence. Please free the people of Palestine, please. And please free the hostages, all the hostages, please.”
Currently, Cinema for Gaza is organizing an auction in support of Medical Aid for Palestinians, with participants including Tilda Swinton, Peter Capaldi, Imelda Staunton, Brian Cox, Josh O’Connor, Joseph Quinn, Karen Gillan, Aisling Bea, Nicola Coughlan, Annie Lennox, and more. Jonathan Glazer, who has not commented publicly since making his speech, has donated signed Zone Of Interests posters to the event.
87 Comments
Never thought I’d say this, but I’m sorry I missed the Oscars.
It was a good speech, but not really worth sitting through the Oscars for. However, it also wasn’t some huge screed against Israel like some fundies want to make it seem like, it was basically the line noted in the article spoken by a Jewish director of a film about the Holocaust. Because of that they had to take extra steps in calling into question Glazer’s Jewishness, and calling into question the genuineness of his art.
The very short speech is on youtube – you don’t need to have watched the whole 37 hours of the show for 20 seconds of Glazer’s speech.
It was one of the best telecasts in years. Lots of deserving winners and great movies featured. Even thought Kimmel’s obligatory “movies are too long” joke was funny.
Plenty of Jews have expressed compassion for the Palestinian victims and contempt for Israel’s policies.I have not heard many Palestinians condemn Hamas or express sympathy for the innocent Israelis victims, and that silence speaks volumes.
oh stfu
Genocide step 1: dehumanize your target.
I think most people can figure out why one might hold the UN member, proud democracy and recipient of billions of dollars in US aid to a different standard than an anti-democratic terror group that rejects all rules of decency and humanity and gets no military or diplomatic support from the international community, and direct their energies accordingly.
they’re probably too busy starving to hop on a podcast and talk about it
Dying Gazans Criticized for Not Using Last Words to Condemn Hamashttps://www.theonion.com/dying-gazans-criticized-for-not-using-last-words-to-con-1850925657
Aww, snap! Thank you for linking this, I wish I had known about it earlier. Seems extra thorny and ‘brave’ considering this article came out in October.
Or literally any Arab celebrities? Because the feeling for many Jews is that the Arab world and most of their supporters would have been overjoyed if Hamas had spent the last six months continuing to go through Israel, systematically raping and killing everyone they came across – Jewish, Arab or whoever.I mean, no one’s calling for Hamas to be disbanded as a condition for a peace treaty, or even for the mass murderers to be turned over. Hamas has always had mass support in Gaza and have openly said they’ll repeat October 7th over and over the first chance they get. So, what reasonable conclusion can anyone come to, except that there can be no peace as long as Hamas is active?
I wonder if this is the worst take we’ll see in the comments. It’s a strong contender
Saying something dumber would be hard, but if any group is up to the task it’s the AV Club commentariat.
you dont see actual Whataboutry posts like that as often as you think , but that was literally a prime example.
Hey, go fuck yourself. Thanks!
I will as soon as your mom’s too tired.
I never would have guessed you were really a troll after that first comment.
Wow, you got me good. Keep on supporting a lying, genocidal, Islamaphobic, global pariah of a government, though. Really, enjoy it.
“Islamaphobic” lololol. This is not a real thing. Yeah, generally people are “phobic” of religions that preach conversion or death and beatings for women wearing revealing clothes in 2024. Deal with it.
I’m not going to engage with diversionary tactics. There is no excuse for the behavior of the Israeli government.
There is no excuse for Hamas beheading innocent people either. 🤷♂️
Oh and how many was that, again? How many were beheaded on Oct. 7th? What’s the number?
69
This is the level of maturity and intelligence I’d expect from you.
Thank you
Who is making that excuse, other then the inbred morons and South African nepo Nazis you get your 100% Not Fake News from? I am guessing the same sources that alerted you to the urgent crisis of minorities somehow buying farging Lobsters with SNAP cards?
whoa dude. Don’t be racist.
actually, that’s theocracy. it’s not really limited to any particular religion.
Hey go kill yourself, thanks.
Oh man, you sure showed him
They are but there are not a lot of famous Palestinians in Hollywood so it doesn’t get coverage.
I honestly had to look it up just find a name I recognized. And I, for one, think that this whole thing could wrap up to a peaceful close if DJ Khaled would finally condemn Hamas.
“You played yourself, Hamas.”
what volumes does it speak exactly, what are the contents of these volumes
Yes, all those celebrity Palestinians we can all name. Why haven’t they spoken out, since they are, of course, so famous?
Hey so, you’re like a real stupid asshole huh?
I’m Palestinian. I condemn Hamas for the attack that took place 6 months ago, as well as the extremist Likud and Zionist policies that created an environment where such a thing was inevitable, starting with Netanyahu’s “Help Hamas to Help Israel” strategy. Do you condemn the genocide of the Palestinians? Happening right now? 30,000+ dead? Do you condemn the decades of occupation and apartheid? Do you condemn the calculated ethnic cleansing of Palestinian land and appropriation and erasure of Palestinian culture, food, and music? If not, then you’re no better than Hamas and its supposed supporters. As you say, silence speaks volumes.
“silence speaks volumes”So scum AND a coward. The satire article saying exactly what you said actually stated its conclusion instead of this faded little cliche.
I bet you claim to know *dozens* of Palestinians.
But that’s the problem. No one was listening to the Palestinians before this war happened, and they aren’t listening now.
Is there an email address we should use in order to reaffirm the obvious in order to make random internet nazi shitbagss happy (assuming we pretend that you are arguing in good faith and not just being a rand0m interrnet nazi shitbag)?Also,Fuck you.
I’m pretty sure they’re busy being bombed into non-existence.
It’s a bummer to see Jennifer Jason Leigh side with Juliana Margulies on this issue.
Its getting to the point where its a bummer to see anyone side with Juliana Margulies ever.
It turns out everyone else’s signature was just green-screened in next to Margulies’.
or siding with Noa Tishby for that matter. your first question before co-signing anything like this is, “who am i signing next to?”
God, the last thing we need is more celebrities thinking they matter to anything but whatever project they happen to be working on at the time.
What’s it like to matter less than a celebrity?
It’s weird that saying “30,000 dead, many of them civilians, is a bad thing, and maybe we shouldn’t indiscriminately kill aid workers” is considered controversial by some people.
They’re not just indiscriminately killing aid workers, they are deliberately targeting them.
It’s got all the panache of Trump following through on his threat that he could shoot someone on fifth avenue and people would still support him. Could Israel deliberately target aid workers and continue to enjoy widespread support? There really wasn’t any need for proof, since yes, everyone already believed that to be true.
Obvious corollary: When January 6-2 happens, if one of those folks straight up executes a senator on the capital steps, would we even then get anything more from the Excuse Evil Always brigade than “We’re so divided these days. Why can’t we all just respect everyone’s opinions anymore? It’s giving me a tummy-ache. =( =( =( ”
We already had a Congresspeople get shot. It didn’t change anything.
aid workers, journalists (and their families), doctors, etc. They have been doing it long before this conflict, even though it is not a conflict as it is completely one sided.
I fully support these celebrities expressing their views and I’m perfectly fine with Jews that are anti-Israel or anti-Zionist but what I’m not OK with is people singling these people out for their Jewishness as if it makes their point more valid. It is the liberal equivalent of when Conservative pundits would show black people who were against Black Lives Matter or when Trump would point out black people in his rallies. Like, if you don’t think Kanye West wearing a White Lives Matter shirt is valid, then neither is this.
I love when people forget the sequence of events in a way that immeditely exposes their biases.The people you’re upset with are reacting to a group that actually did what you’re complaining about. They did an open letter saying “We’re ‘real’ Jews’ and you should listen to us and not Glazer.” (My guess is this didn’t bother you because you agree with their anti-Palestinian take).
I think it’s a delicate issue. But given how frequently supporters of Israel’s conduct in Gaza work to portray any criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic, I do think there’s value in noting how many Jewish people are also deeply troubled by Israel’s conduct.
Their “Jewishness” is important because Glazer’s detractors have questioned his own “Jewishness”. The status of being a Jew has been weaponized by Zionists for decades. They equate the state of Israel with “Jewishness” so they can tar any criticism as being “antisemitic”. The logical problem with this is if Israel = Jews (“all” Jews) then when Israel commits genocide and ethnic cleansing, it becomes the sin of Jews (“all” Jews). So it is notable when Jews speak out against the genocide because right now the greatest threat to Jews the world over are Israel’s policies. It is critical people know and understand that Israel does NOT = Jews and does not speak for all Jews, and that Israel cannot pay for its numerous transgressions with the guilt the West has for failing to stop the Holocaust. These people are speaking out in part because they are Jewish and want people to know “hey, not all Jews are ok with bombing the living shit out of 30,000 innocent people; this is not being done in our name.”
Boy, was that a labored false equivalence.
Hannah would sweat at how complicated the banality of evil has become just to manufacture even the thinnest veil of plausible deniability.
I think this new letter is fantastic.I also think you misrepresented what Melissa Barrera wrote that led to her being accused of hate speech and being fired; it wasn’t the “accused Israel of ‘genocide and ethnic cleansing’” bit.
Yup — it was the not-so-subtle “nobody is talking about it because the Jews run the media” thing that got her in hot water. I can’t believe that she doesn’t seem to get that it was that part that really did her in.
Hard disagree. It’s tricky because the “Jews control the media” is obviously longtime antisemitic sentiment. But Melissa rightly invoked mainstream media’s complicity in one-side coverage, downplaying Palestinian deaths. You can just look at the Times and see how they bend over backwards to use passive voice for Palestine deaths or TV new’s lack of airtime for thousands of protests or news networks’ lack of Arab or Muslim commentators on their shows. It’s not antisemitic to point those out.
Yeah, maybe it’s the circles I run in, but I read that part as a comment on colonial/imperialist powers sticking together and US war profiteering. It is poor phrasing though and she should have spelled out what she meant instead of saying, “I’ll let you figure that out.”
I hope we can all appreciate our collective responsibility in supporting literal genocide (and not for the first time) as a Nation next time we hold our hands to our hearts before next Sunday’s big game. America is Evil.
Note that Joel Coen signed but Ethan Coen did not. Have we discovered the reason for their creative split?
I love when my super progressive friends talk about Gaza like it’s fucking Wakanda when it’s an ultraconservative patriarchy where women are treated like property and homosexuality is punishable by death.
None of this matters. Just a bunch of celebrities jerking each other off, saying the right thing in public to get a pat on the back from their other rich and famous friends and bunch of dorks on Twitter. None of you actually give a shit about any of this, just lefty performance art. Eat a dick.
How could you possibly know what they do or do not care about?
Pretty easy. No celebrity cares about anything other than themselves. Even ones that participate in charities are doing so to raise their profile and get good publicity.
Same goes for lefties on Twitter letting everyone know how much they hate Trump. It’s not about Trump, or “saving democracy.” Secretly a lot of these losers want Trump to win so they can go back to being “Trump reply guy/gal” online and trying to make money off of their shitty “clapbacks.”Glad I could help.
“No celebrity cares about anything other than themselves.”If you really believe that, then it would also apply to Trump.
No shit? Lmao, did you think you were catching me in something here?
Crawl back up your mother’s butt.
You’re a dumb little boy
None of what you wrote matters. You’re just some crying bitch looking for a pat on the back from the commenters. You’re as shallow as you say they are. Plus you’re a little bitch.
The letter of support includes signatures from prominent Hollywood figures like Debra Winger, Elliot Gould, David Cross, Wallace Shawn, Joaquin Phoenix, Ilana Glazer, and Abbi Jacobson, among others.*Elliott Gould Jonathan Glazer, who has not commented publicly since making his speech, has donated signed Zone Of Interests posters to the event.*Zone Of Interest
Good! Anyone who supports Israel’s genocide can burn in eternal fire.
It’s extremely frustrating that this whole controversy stems from people (either in bad faith or through sheer laziness) refusing to read to the end of a damn sentence. jOnAtHaN gLaZeR iS rEfUtInG hIs JeWiShNeSs—get him, get him!
I think he meant “resent,” so it’s kinda his fault for using the wrong word.
I’m not certain that alternative, “I resent my Jewishness,” free of context in the exact same manner as his actual quote, wouldn’t still feed the clickbait-outrage industrial complex.
It’s harder to misinterpret.
I’m 100% in agreement that “resent” is frankly a more accurate and precise communication.If we’re in editing the land of likely misinterpretation, for me the bigger fault is in syntax rather than word choice.
If he’d just used the word “resent” instead, none of this would be happening. But judging from his accent, it’s likely English isn’t his first language.
Putting aside the fact that the same idiots would take issue with ‘resent’ being used rather than ‘refute’, Glazer was born in London and appears to have lived in England his entire childhood, so I have no idea why you think English isn’t his first language.
Like I said, he didn’t sound American…
You didn’t say that, you said his accent sounded to you like English wasn’t his first language. He was born and raised in England, English is clearly his first language.