Jewish Artists Condemn Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar Speech: ‘Bizarre’ was the first word that came to my mind when I read the news about Jonathan Glazer’s current situation. If you are a film fanatic and keep yourself updated with the news from the industry, you must be aware that filmmaker Jonathan Glazer sparked debate following his Oscar speech. Now, why I call it bizarre is because the day Jonathan was honored with the Oscar Award was a monumental day for him, but following his winning speech, the memorable day turned into an infamous one as it raged over the audience.
For the unversed, Glazer won the Best International Film award for his film The Zone of Interest. While accepting the honor, he gave a speech mentioning the Israeli conflict, which caused thunderous rumbles in Hollywood. Although his speech may seem right to many people, decrying any act of dehumanization and murder, be they committed by Nazi or Hamas, Israeli or Houthi, American or Iranian. However, for some privileged people, it touched a sensitive nerve with its analogies, resulting in more than 500 Jewish artists and professionals in the film industry having signed a letter denouncing the speech.
The letter includes signatures from renowned creatives in the industry, such as Eli Roth (Hostel, Thanksgiving), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight, Single White Female, Annihilation), Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Odeya Rush (Goosebumps, Lady Bird, Umma), Tara Strong (Teen Titans, The Powerpuff Girls), Jeremy Garelick (Murder Mystery 2), and several of the most vocal voices in support of Israel recently — Brett Gelman (Stranger Things, Fleabag), Debra Messing (Will & Grace), and Julianna Margulies (ER, The Good Wife).
Now, how this undertaking by Jewish Artists would impact Jonathan Glazer and his film (and Oscar) remains unclear. However, his speech has certainly raged many people in the film community who want action to be taken against Glazer. His film, The Zone of Interest, is loosely based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis and focuses on the life of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife, Hedwig. They live with their family in a home in the Zone of Interest next to the concentration camp.
The letter the signatories have signed in protest of Glazer reads,
We are Jewish creatives, executives, and Hollywood professionals. 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.
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. 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. The current climate of growing antisemitism only underscores the need for the Jewish State of Israel, a place that will always take us in, as no state did during the Holocaust depicted in Mr. Glazer’s film.
The Zone of Interest is now available to rent or buy on digital platforms such as Google Play, YouTube, Apple TV, and Prime Video.
