151 Jewish creatives sign letter supporting Jonathan Glazer's Oscar speech

• Published date: 06 April 2024
• Author: GADI ZAIG
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The report comes only a few weeks after 1,200 Jewish creatives pinned a letter denouncing Glazer's speech - nearly eight times the amount of those who defended the Zone of Interest director's words, where he said that he "refuted his Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people." Jewish producers of Glazer's film had also shown disapproval of his words

Signees of the open letter include actors Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), Elliott Gould (American History X, Ocean's Eleven), Chloe Fineman (Saturday Night Live), David Cross (Arrested Development), Wallace Shawn (Toy Story, Princess Bride), Ilana Glazer (Broad City), and Debra Winger (Terms of Endearment); directors Todd Haynes (May December, Carol), Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You), Lenny Abrahamson (Room), Emma Seligman (Bottoms, Shiva Baby), Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men, Big Lebowski, Fargo); playwright Tom Stoppard (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead).

Signees of the letter also included Israeli filmmakers such as Nadav Lapid and Avi Mograbi.

The letter reads: "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," referring to the letter denouncing his remarks.

The letter also accuses those who disapprove of Glazer's speech as 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" and that they also "have a silencing effect on our industry, contributing to a broader climate of suppression of free speech and dissent."

What the letter leaves out

While the letter expresses grief for the victims of the October 7 massacre and calls for the safe return of the hostages, it doesn't make any clear explicit condemnation of Hamas nor does it call...