Jewish director Jonathan Glazer gained significant attention on social media for refuting his Jewish identity and the Holocaust being “hijacked” by the “occupation” during an Oscars acceptance speech for his Holocaust film “The Zone of Interest” Sunday night.

 

Holocaust Survivors’ Foundation USA was one of the many Jewish groups that condemned Glazer for his harmful speech, with members deeming it “morally indefensible” and offensive for his false claim that Israel is hijacking the Holocaust for political gain. They criticized him for misusing their traumatic experience to denounce Israel. 

 

Many users online expressed their horror over Glazer’s speech, especially for perceiving he renounced his Jewish identity to an audience of millions. Anti-Israel users praised him for using his platform to call attention to the alleged genocide in Gaza.

 

*Note: this section was edited on Monday March 18th to better reflect the comments made by Johnathan Glazer during his acceptance speech. 

Pro-Palestine demonstrators blocked incoming traffic to the Dolby Theater Sunday in an attempt to disrupt the Oscars ceremony. Protestors were filmed chanting “We are the intifada, we are the revolution,” while holding posters that called to “overthrow Hollywood” and shouting “shame” at guests as they arrived at the ceremony. 

 

The demonstration caused a short delay in the start time of the ceremony, as some guests arrived late to the venue. One of those who arrived late was Mark Ruffalo, who was spotted wearing a red pin with an image of a red hand. Ruffalo was one of a number of celebrities, including Billie Eilish and Ramy Youssef, who wore the pin symbolizing support for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, according to the organization Artists4Ceasefire.

 

For many Jewish users on social media, the pin symbolized the lynching of two Israeli Defence Forces soldiers, Vadim Nurzhitz and Yossi Avrahami, who accidentally entered the city of Ramallah in October 2000. The red hand on the pin was reminiscent of the bloody hands one of the terrorists proudly waved and captured in an infamous image. The resemblance caused an uproar within Jewish spaces on social media as many users said the symbolism was not a coincidence. Additionally, users pointed out the notable absence of the yellow ribbon pin from the red carpet. 

The House of Representatives passed a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban of the social media platform TikTok, sending the bill to the Senate. The move is considered vastly unpopular among the public as roughly 170 million Americans are TikTok users. Congress is facing increasing pressure from young voters for whom TikTok remains a preferred platform. Lawmakers supportive of the bill have argued that TikTok poses a national security threat because the Chinese government could extract data of US app users, but many users who oppose the ban reject that notion and blame the “Jewish lobby” for influencing Congress to silence the voices of pro-Palestine supporters. 

 

The theory quickly spread on social media with blame pointed at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for orchestrating the ban. The theory is based on TikTok data that shows pro-Palestinian content is much more prevalent than pro-Israel content on the platform since October 7. Additionally, users online have been sharing an alleged voice recording from ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt where he says “We have a major TikTok problem,” which many took as a sign of the organization’s involvement. 

 

Journalists at The Hill, an American newspaper that covers political stories, further spread the theory. In a YouTube video posted by the newspaper’s main channel, journalist Briahna Joy Gray described the potential ban as a “deep state” power grab, a phrase commonly associated with the antisemitic QAnon conspiracy theory. 

 

UC Berkeley professor Ron Hassner is staging a personal sit-in inside his office, where he is vowing not to leave until the university takes action to protect Jewish students on campus. Other faculty members joined hundreds of Berkeley students in an on-campus protest against antisemitism on Monday, marching to the Sather Gate, where anti-Israel demonstrators staged protests for the past month. Many users online applauded Hassner and Berkeley students for standing up against antisemitism. 

 

Outspoken Columbia professor Shai Davidai is under investigation by the university after advocating for Jewish students on campus. Davidai believes the investigation is an act of retaliation for speaking out against the university, and denies the university’s claims he targeted individual students or protected groups. Amid continuing antisemitism at the university, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce is holding a hearing with Columbia leaders next month. 

 

Political science researcher Dr. Eitan Hersh released a study last month that found 44% of Jewish students in the study experienced a decline in their mental health due to the Israel-Hamas conflict. Four in ten Jewish students were targeted with antisemitic messages either in-person or online since October 7, and 17% of Jewish students have received antisemitic messages on social media. More findings from the study can be found here. 

 

An anti-Israel activist spray-painted and cut a portrait of Arthur Balfour, a 20th-century British politician who advocated for the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state, last Friday at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. Balfour was the author of a 1917 letter affirming the need for a Jewish state, rendering his portrait a target for the anti-Israel cause. The activist responsible for the defacement is part of the group Palestine Action. A video of the incident circulated on social media, garnering widespread backlash from users. 

 

 

The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism’s new story commercial, “Neighbors,” ran during the 96th Oscars on Sunday. The commercial is inspired by a real-life story of a community coming together after an antisemitic bomb threat disrupted a bat mitzvah. Neighbors sparked a wave of positive support online, with many users sharing the Blue Square and how the commercial affected them. A vocal minority expressed their hate towards the ad, with several users spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories. Despite the targeted animosity towards the #StandUpToJewishHate campaign, these examples show why combating antisemitism is still necessary today. 

 

 

 

 

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