Steven Spielberg addresses conflict between Israel and Gaza
Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg has criticised the rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza.
Spielberg, who is Jewish, is the latest Hollywood figure to denounce the growth of hate speech. The filmmaker made the remarks on March 25th while giving a speech celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Shoah Foundation at the University of Southern California.
After completing Schindler’s List, Spielberg founded the Shoah Foundation, which has now been awarded the USC Medallion.
The director used the platform to spread a vital message of unity during dark times, telling those in attendance, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Addressing the war in the Middle East, The Wrap report that Spielberg said: “We can rage against the heinous acts committed by the terrorists of October 7 and also decry the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza.”
Due to making the speech at The University of Southern California, Spielberg also highlighted issues with discrimination on campuses aimed at students of different heritages, noting, “50 per cent of students say they have experienced some discrimination because they are Jewish. This is also happening alongside anti-Muslim, Arab and Sikh discrimination.”
Spielberg poignantly continued: “I’m increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history… once again to fight for the very right to be Jewish. Stopping the rise of antisemitism and hate of any kind is critical to the health of our democratic republic and the future of democracy all over the civilised world.”
Elsewhere in the speech, Spielberg discussed “the trauma” of making Schindler’s List, claiming that he almost decided to stop directing after starting work with the Shoah Foundation.
The director’s comments arrive Jonathan Glazer used his victory moment at the Academy Awards for The Zone of Interest to condemn the “dehumanisation” of the lives lost in Gaza.
Glazer, who is also Jewish, told the star-studded crowd: “Our film shows where dehumanisation 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 that has led to conflict for so many innocent people.”
He concluded: “Whether the victims of October 7th or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all of the victims of this dehumanisation, how do we resist?”
Following his comments, Glazer was lauded by many but also criticised by a portion of the Jewish community. Notably, The Zone of Interest executive producer Danny Cohen was among those who lambasted Glazer’s remarks.
Cohen said on the Unholy podcast: “I just fundamentally disagree with Jonathan on this. The war and the continuation of the war is the responsibility of Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organisation which continues to hold and abuse the hostages, which doesn’t use its tunnels to protect the innocent civilians of Gaza but uses it to hide themselves and allow Palestinians to die.”
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