“The occupation that caused so much suffering”: at the Oscars, Jonathan Glazer condemns the situation in the Gaza Strip

This is one of the strongest performances at the 96th Academy Awards. Director Jonathan Glazer – winner of the best foreign film award for “Zone of Interest” on Sunday night – condemned on stage the situation in the Gaza Strip, where the war between Israel and Hamas continues. This British Jewish director, whose film deals with the horrors of the Holocaust, takes aim at the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. “We refuse to allow our Jewishness and the Holocaust to be misused for the purposes of an occupation that has caused so much suffering to so many innocent people,” he said.

“Whether it is the victims in Israel on October 7 or the ongoing attack in Gaza, they are all victims of dehumanization,” he added, after being interrupted by applause from the audience. “Choices are made to make us think and react in the present, not so that we can say that in a few years look what they didbut so that we can tell each other now look what we’re doing “,” he also stated in the preamble to the read speech.

During the ceremony, other stars such as Mark Ruffalo and Billie Eilish wore a red badge calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Two French actors from the film “Anatomy of a Fall” – the prize for best original screenplay – Swan Arlaud and Milo Machado-Granet wore a brooch in the colors of Palestine on the red carpet. Likewise, according to images broadcast by media, demonstrators gathered in front of the Dolby Theater, where the Oscars were being held, shortly before the ceremony. Hollywood Reporter.

On the same day, US President Joe Biden assessed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “done more harm than good” to Israel. “He has the right to defend Israel, the right to continue to attack Hamas. But he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives lost because of the actions taken,” Joe Biden demanded.

Dedication to Alexei Navalny

The film “20 Days in Mariupol,” about the blockade of the Ukrainian city during the Russian invasion, won an Oscar for best documentary. “I’m probably the first director on this stage to say that I would have preferred never to have made this film if Russia had not responded by attacking Ukraine and occupying our cities,” Associated Press journalist Mstislav Chernov said.

As for the traditional veneration of deceased stars, it began with Alexei Navalny. Vladimir Putin’s No. 1 opponent, who died in custody in Siberia on February 16, is at the center of the film Navalny, the 2023 Oscar winner for best documentary.