OVER 150 Jewish creatives have signed an open letter in support of director Jonathan Glazer’s Oscars speech that denounced the continued actions of Israel on Palestine and equating the former’s war crimes with what Nazi Germany did almost 80 years ago.
“We are Jewish artistes, 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 mischaracterise 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. We honour the Holocaust by saying: ‘Never again for anyone’,” the open letter read.
Among those who signed the letter were Joaquin Phoenix, Elliott Gould and Chloe Fineman.
After winning the Best International Film award at the Oscars for The Zone of Interest, Glazer used the opportunity during his acceptance speech to talk about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present, not to say look what they did then. But rather, look at what we do now. Our film shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst. It’s shaped all of our past and present,” he said, drawing a parallel between the Nazis in his film to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Following the speech, Glazer was the subject of a smear campaign. A month later, Glazer has yet to publicly address the backlash to the speech. But at the start of this month, he donated seven signed “Zone of Interest” posters to a Cinema for Gaza auction raising money for Medical Aid for Palestinians.
