The Shift: Jonathan Glazer smeared by pro-Israel voices over Oscar speech

Last Sunday Jonathan Glazer’s brilliant film The Zone of Interest won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

The director made this statement during his acceptance speech:

“All our choices we made to reflect and confront us in the present. Not to say ‘look what they did then’ — rather, ‘look what we do now.’ Our film shows where dehumanization leads at its worst. It shaped all of our past and present.”

“Right now, 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. Whether the victims of October 7 in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza — all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?”

At the time I am typing this, the speech is still conspicuously missing from the Oscar’s official YouTube channel, but I digress.

Glazer’s speech probably seems commonsensical, inoffensive, and too subtle to the average reader of this newsletter, but it was pretty much the only time Gaza got mentioned all evening unless you count the small number of attendees who wore ceasefire and Palestine pins and referenced them during red carpet interviews.

As soon as Glazer finished his speech, pro-Israel individuals and organizations began attacking him across social media. The immediate lie being pushed was that Glazer got on stage and rejected his Jewishness. Of course, what he actually said is that he rejected his Jewishness being used as an excuse to kill thousands of people.

The truth is often distorted in defense of Israel, but this is an exceptionally egregious example. Millions of people watched Glazer’s speech and it’s easily accessible online, even if The Academy refuses to showcase it.

Actress Noa Tishby used to peddle propaganda for the Israeli government before she got canned for lightly criticizing Netanyahu’s judicial reforms. Now, she defends the country for free. She called the entire evening “a subtle and overt display of Jew-hatred.”

Media favorite Rabbi Shmuley claimed that Glazer had “betrayed his people” and “trivialized the 6 million martyrs of the Holocaust” for pointing out that Israel was hijacking Judaism.

“How dare you compare the two? You fool,” Shmuley tweeted. “The whole purpose of Israel’s war in Gaza is to make sure THERE ISN’T A SECOND HOLOCAUST, so we don’t need more of your films because Jews actually remain alive. HAMAS HAS ONE INTENTION. GENOCIDE OF JEWS. How is it the Jews in Hollywood have absolutely no pride in being Jewish and never ever stand up for the only Jewish country on earth, Israel.”

“Unfortunately, Jonathan Glazer has turned a magnificent achievement into another ‘As a Jew’ moment, where he appropriates his religious and ethnic identity to attack the national homeland of the Jewish People which is fighting a war on seven fronts against those who openly call for the genocide of Jews,” said Combat Antisemitism Movement CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa.

“Lotta people in Hollywood showing their ass when a man gets on stage to ‘refute his Jewishness’ and half the room claps,” said Meghan McCain.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) predictably wasted no time criticizing the director.

“It’s truly disheartening to see someone minimize the Holocaust literally as they are accepting an award for a film they made…about the Holocaust,” wrote ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. “Glazer talks about understanding where dehumanization can lead, yet is blind to the fact that it’s Hamas’ dehumanization of Jews & Israelis that led to the current war. Let me be clear: Israel is not hijacking anyone’s Jewishness. It’s defending every Jew’s right to exist.”

“Israel is not hijacking Judaism or the Holocaust by defending itself against genocidal terrorists,” tweeted the organization’s official account. “Glazer’s comments at the Oscars are both factually incorrect & morally reprehensible. They minimize the Shoah & excuse terrorism of the most heinous kind.”

So, here’s the ADL, a group allegedly focused on combatting antisemitism, smearing an artist whose ancestors fled the Kishinev pogrom because he had the temerity to bring up the fact that Israel has killed over 30,000 Palestinians since October.

The ADL promotes itself as a civil rights organization, but it consistently attacks Palestinians and has no problem attacking Jewish people if they have the wrong opinions. That is to say, if they are anti-Zionist.

A week before the Oscars, the group honored Jared Kushner at its annual summit. So, mention Gaza, and you’re morally reprehensible. Help broker the sale of over $100 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and get an award.

The response to Glazer’s moderate speech has been so hysterical that it’s hard to believe the response hasn’t backfired in some capacity. The mainstream is seeing how desperate and dishonest the defenses of Israel have become.

The journalist David Klion has a smart take on Twitter. “A running theme I’ve noticed among the people who are most mad at Jonathan Glazer: a lot of them really liked The Zone of Interest, at least before the Oscar speech. Which suggests they only superficially understood it; they thought the point of the movie was that Nazis were bad,” he writes. “The movie wasn’t intended to be about Gaza, obviously having been made well before 10/7, but it was about themes that the filmmakers understand to be salient to Gaza right now. And that’s driving these lazier fans of The Zone of Interest crazy.”

Columbia Gets Sued Amid Concerning Campus Climate

This week, the New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal announced that they were suing Columbia University for the suspension of its Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

“For decades, Columbia students have been at the forefront of speaking out against segregation, war and apartheid and SJP and JVP sit squarely in this tradition,” said Palestine Legal Senior Staff Attorney Radhika Sainath in a statement. “It is precisely because these principled students pose a threat to the status quo that they are being targeted for McCarthyist censorship, but the law does not allow it. Universities must abide by their own rules and may not punish student groups speaking out for Palestinian rights in the moment when they are most essential – even if donors and lobby groups complain.”

Columbia suspended the groups last November, claiming that they “repeatedly violated university policies related to holding campus events.” The final straw was apparently a peaceful walkout followed by an art installation.

Tensions have only intensified since the suspensions.

First, Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) was relaunched. It’s a coalition of more than 40 campus student groups that are demanding the SJP and JVP chapters be reinstated. They’re also calling for the school to divest from Israeli apartheid, a ceasefire in Gaza, and the cancellation of a new Columbia campus opening in Tel Aviv.

In December, school President Minouche Shafik and Interim Provost Dennis Mitchell sent an email out announcing that they were “launching a series of initiatives to reinvest in Columbia’s values and mission.” These efforts were “designed to foster a community where debates and disagreements are rooted in academic rigor and civil discourse.”

“The past few months have been incredibly challenging for so many,” read the email. “We have had hundreds of conversations with students, faculty, staff, and alumni who are dealing with deep pain, grief, and anger. We feel very keenly the fear and feeling of devastation, particularly among the Arab, Israeli, Jewish, Muslim, and Palestinian members of our community.”

“We also have witnessed the many ways, big and small, that you have shown up for each other, been kind to your peers and colleagues, and looked out for those who are struggling,” it continued. “With these initiatives, we will build on that culture of empathy and care. We will recommit ourselves to serving as a home for intellectual discovery and debate that honors the humanity of all its members.”

CUAD put out a statement criticizing the email.

“Shafik’s admiration for the ‘many ways, big and small’ that Columbia community members have ‘shown up for each other’ contrasts sharply with her numerous student disciplinary notices for ‘potential violation of the Rules of University Conduct.’,” wrote the group. “The administration has even penalized students for their personal social media content. Such censorship clarifies that their ’empathy and care’ do not extend to those who criticize the Zionist project. Shafik’s paltry “recommitment” to free speech is an utter hypocrisy, as her administration subverts their own rules to cancel events, suspend student organizations, and discipline students who speak up against the genocide in Gaza.”

In January, during a rally protesting the assault on Gaza, multiple protesters were attacked with a chemical spray, allegedly by students connected to the IDF. Columbia initial statement on the issue only criticized the protesters for holding an unauthorized event, but after The Intercept published a story on the skunking, the school announced that the alleged perpetrators were suspended and that the police were investigating the matter.

“Just like all their responses to anything Palestine-related, the school’s initial statement was empty of any empathy or attempt to take accountability,” an eyewitness told Mondoweiss. “…It wasn’t surprising. That’s how I expected the school to respond. It seems like they only respond when there’s bad press. We know the worst thing for Columbia University is bad press, and it’s only when students take to social media or try to shame the university that’s when they respond to do damage control. It’s been blatantly clear since October they don’t really care about their students.”

Recently, two pieces of leaked audio have raised further concerns about the administration. Both come from Columbia University Vice President Gerry Rosberg.

In the first clip, Rosberg says Israeli students who hear their country described as an apartheid state could perceive that as an “incitement of violence.” In the second clip (of which there is also a video) a student asks Rosberg if Palestinians are human. Rosberg refuses to answer, calling the question “intimidating rhetoric.”

“Columbia University has a robust history of peaceful protest, from 1968 to 1985, that it now champions solely in retrospect and when convenient,” said SJP organizer Maryam Alwan in a statement on the lawsuit. “Ivy League institutions should not attract students who value justice and equality if they do not want to be held accountable for the ideals that they claim to uphold. As a Palestinian-American student, I should have the same right to speak out on my campus as everyone else—and no amount of targeted policy changes or illegitimate suspensions will prevent us from advocating for the Palestinian people.”

Odds & Ends

???? ‘UC Berkeley students and faculty reject university condemnation of protest of anti-Palestinian speaker’

???? ‘Girl Scouts tells troop to shut down Gaza fundraiser’

????️ ‘Progressive orgs form ‘Reject AIPAC’ coalition ahead of 2024 election’

✉️ ‘Open letter from Asians and Asian Americans in support of Palestine and rejecting Zionism’

???????? The American Prospect: ‘AIPAC Talking Points Revealed’

???????? Counterpunch: ‘Stop the Worsening UNDERCOUNT of Palestinian Casualties in Gaza‘

???? Truthout: ‘Pro-Israel Billionaires Line Up Behind NC Republican Leading Campus Witch Hunt’

???? ABC News: ‘Indiana lawmakers pass bill defining antisemitism, with compromises’

???????? HuffPost: ‘Israel’s Limits On Aid For Gaza Make U.S. Military Support Illegal, Activists Argue’

???? The Arizona Republic: ‘Stop the starvation’: Hundreds protest in downtown Phoenix to end hunger in Gaza’

???????? Responsible Statecraft: ‘Why Netanyahu is laughing all the way to the bank’

???? ‘1,000 Gaza protesters rally in Hollywood ahead of Oscars, blocking traffic’

???????? The Intercept: ‘Rep. Josh Gottheimer Goes to War Against High Schoolers Protesting for Gaza’

????️ More than 48,000 voters cast ballots for “uncommitted delegates” in Washington’s primary.

???????? Truthout: ‘Beyond the State of the Union, We Must Confront the State of the Genocide’

???? ‘Progressives Condemn On-Air CNN Pundit’s ‘Disgusting Racism’ Against Ilhan Omar’

⚖️ Palestine Legal: ‘Palestine Legal and NYCLU Sue Columbia University Over Student Group Suspension‘

???? National Priorities Project: ‘Militarized Funding in Biden Budget Totals Well Over $1 Trillion (and it will grow)’

???????? Politico: ‘If Israel invades Rafah, Biden will consider conditioning military aid to Israel’

Stay safe out there,