The Oscars as a whole, and director Jonathan Glazer's speech in particular, highlight how distorted the anti-Israel rhetoric surrounding the war has become, from indifference at best to calls for outright violence against Jews around the world at worst. Shown accurately.
Jewish British Glaser's film zone of interest is a German-language film about the family of the commandant of Auschwitz who lived on the grounds of the death camp during the Holocaust. The film won the award for Best International Feature.
Glaser, standing next to the film's producer James Wilson, who is also Jewish, read a written statement and said on stage in his acceptance speech: They did that then.' [but] Rather, it's “what we're doing now.” Our film shows where dehumanization reaches its worst. It has shaped all of our past and present.
Mr. Glaser continued: “Now we stand here as those who object.” [both] Their Jewishness and the Holocaust has been hijacked by the occupation, and many innocent people have been linked to the conflict…” The award-winning director paused for applause before continuing: In Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization. How should I resist? ”
Short memories about Israel
While humanitarian aid is essential and there is no denying that the people of Gaza are suffering, that was not the case on Sunday night. What happened at the Oscars exemplifies how twisted it is that the world's memory is so short. How did this start? Who started it? Who broke the ceasefire, killed 1,200 people, and took innocent people captive?
What Mr. Glaser is doing here, and what many others are doing, is to place the October 7 attack and the Israeli military offensive in response under the umbrella of “dehumanization.” One of the worst acts of dehumanization that the modern world has witnessed in recent history is precisely the calculated act of genocide committed against the Jewish people during the Holocaust.
The difference is that during the Holocaust, the Jews who were specifically targeted had no fighting armies, no tunnels, no ideology of destroying other peoples, and no way to prevent genocidal attempts made against them. That's what it means. October 7 was intended to be the second genocidal attack on the Jews. A tragic and costly war ensued. The war could end if Hamas released the hostages, but no one at Oscar called for that.
Another thing Glaser has done is to identify the root cause of this war's suffering as “occupation,” reducing a complex regional conflict to a word that can be thrown around too easily and irresponsibly.
What was particularly lacking in this speech, and in the speeches of the night, was nuance. There were no hostage pins at the Oscar ceremony, but there were many red pins symbolizing “Artists4Ceasefire.” Ramy Youssef, a writer, actor and producer, said Ping called for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire in Palestine” to ensure security.
While this is well-intentioned, it lacks the nuance and knowledge needed to advance this discussion. The fighting needs to end, but calling for a unilateral ceasefire will help no one except Hamas and those who hate Israel and the Jews. The hostages in Gaza have been left in the hands of a genocidal terrorist group, and the rest of Palestinian society, who have been under dictatorship for the past 16 years since the violent occupation of the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian territories.
We can and should debate Israel's methods, power dynamics, all of that. But it cannot be argued that what once was should continue to be so.
It's not about convincing the world that Israel is right. It's debatable, there are questionable acts committed by individual soldiers, there are reports – we can't and shouldn't ignore that.
But equating Israel's actions with those of Hamas is factually wrong, morally bankrupt, and an empty apology.
