‘PLEA FOR HUMANITY’

Over 150 Jewish Creatives Sign Letter Backing ‘Zone of Interest’ Director

Joaquin Phoenix, Kate Berlant, and Wallace Shawn are among the actors who signed the letter of support.

A group of high-profile Jewish creatives signed a letter on Friday voicing their support for Zone of Interest director Jonathan Glazer’s Oscars speech, in which he condemned the Israeli military’s brutal campaign against Palestinians in the name of the Jewish faith. The list of 151 names was obtained by Variety, and included actors such as Joaquin Phoenix, SNL’s Chloe Fineman, Elliot Gould, Kate Berlant, Wallace Shawn, and Ilana Glazer. The letter was also signed by filmmakers such as Boots Riley, Ira Sachs, and Joel Coen. In a statement, former Focus Pictures CEO James Schamus said Glazer’s “plea for humanity has only become more urgent” following the killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers along with “countless more Palestinian civilians.” Last month, nearly 500 Jewish creatives signed a letter denouncing the director’s speech in which he said that he rejected his “Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation” and for Israel’s siege on Gaza. In March, prolific playwright Tony Kushner slammed the blowback to Glazer’s remarks, calling it an “unimpeachable, irrefutable statement.”