The Shift: Actors face consequences for Palestine support
Hollywood. It’s associated with a variety of causes, but you’d be hard-pressed to find many that are overtly political. For instance, Republicans believe award shows are a cascade of left-wing propaganda, but who can forget Michael Moore getting booed for having the temerity to tell the truth about Iraq?
Palestine is quite obviously a third rail issue for celebs. There has been an increasing amount of entertainers showing support in recent years, but that numbers remains extremely small in the scheme of things. This week we are learning why.
First, Susan Sarandon was dropped from United Talent Agency for comments she made at a Palestine rally. The incriminating remark seems to be, “There are a lot of people that are afraid, that are afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of how it feels to be Muslim in this country.”
Then actress Melissa Barrera was dropped from the upcoming Scream 7 over a social media post she made about the issue.
Here’s the statement that Spyglass Media, the production company behind the movie, made on Tuesday: “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
Barrera’s firing and the subsequent statement suggests she spread antisemitic disinformation, but the post in question doesn’t even mention Jewish people and certainly doesn’t distort The Holocaust.
“I have been actively looking for videos and information about the Palestinian side for the last 2 weeks or so, following accounts etc. Why? Because western media only shows the other side. Why they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself,” it read.
“Usually, the algorithm on social media gets the gist,” it continued. “Well…My discover page on IG will ONLY show me videos showing and talking about the Israeli side. Censorship is very real. Palestinians know this, they know the world has been trying to make them invisible for decades. Keep sharing.”
The censorship of Palestine voices is a well-established fact, not some grand conspiracy. The only antisemitic part of this story is Spyglass’ explanation for why they let their film’s lead actor go, as they’re associating Israel with all Jewish people.
Barrera told the press that she’s not the only one leaving the set and there’s reports that Jenna Ortega (who is also slated to appear in the movie) has asked to have her contract terminated over the decision. However, the only public statement we have so far beyond Barrera’s comes from director Christopher Landon and it’s strikingly pathetic: “💔Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
Okay.
Finally, we turn to the the case of Maha Dakhil, 48, who is a popular agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA). She faced intense criticism over a social media post last month.“What’s more heartbreaking than witnessing genocide?,” she had written. “Witnessing the denial that genocide is happening.”
The backlash to this commonsense observation forced Dakhil to delete the post, make her account private, apologize, and resign from her leadership position with the organization. Now a new report reveals that Tom Cruise (who is one of her clients) stepped into to help protect her job and assist her in navigating the criticism. This from a Variety article by Tatiana Siegel on the situation:
“It didn’t hurt that her most important client, Tom Cruise, made it known to CAA that he was backing her. Cruise met with Dakhil at her CAA office on Nov. 15. A knowledgeable source says he took the rare step of going in person to show support for his embattled agent.”
“But the Dakhil issue didn’t end there. A group of CAA assistants threatened to walk out over the agency’s treatment of her, sources say. They believed she was being railroaded by management but ultimately abandoned their threat. At the same time, some of the agents who complained internally about Dakhil’s posts felt disillusioned, believing she should have been fired. Separately, CAA cut ties with a staffer and two clients over incendiary anti-Israeli social media posts.”
There’s some amazing information in this story beyond the Cruise intervention, as details emerge regarding how the issue is being tackled within Hollywood:
“Insiders say ‘La La Land’ producer Marc Platt texted WME leadership about why Boots Riley was still a client after the ‘Sorry to Bother You’ writer-director urged his followers on X to boycott an industry screening of footage of Hamas atrocities at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. He dubbed the footage “murderous propaganda” and warning that “when IDF and Israeli officials are at The Hague for war crimes, massacres and genocidal actions- you wont want your name or image to have been anywhere near it.”However, Riley remains an agency client. A Platt rep says he merely flagged the posts.”
“Meanwhile, several agents at UTA have expressed outrage internally over a recent open letter spearheaded by writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and believe he should be dropped from the agency’s roster. Coates was the first signature on an Oct. 14 letter that many industryites felt dehumanized Israelis and softened Hamas’ actions with such lines as “Hamas militants broke out of Gaza. More than 1,300 Israelis were subsequently killed.” The agency is sticking with him, though it has severed ties with Susan Sarandon over her controversial words on the conflict.”
Of course Variety also feels compelled to share some insight from ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt, who apparently called out the Writers Guild of America for failing to release a statement condemning the Hamas attack.
“There’s plenty of room for criticism of Israel or to voice concerns about the ongoing war in Gaza, but that doesn’t provide celebrities and industry reps with an open license to wage unfair accusations against Israel, such as accusing it of ‘apartheid’ or ‘genocide’ or, worse, to celebrate the actions of Hamas terrorists,” Greenblatt told the magazine.
Sure sounds like there isn’t plenty of room.
Stuart Seldowitz
We move on to the disturbing case of Stuart Seldowitz, a former White House security adviser under Obama who apparently harassed a halal cart vendor multiple times.
There’s video of Seldowitz confronting a worker at the Q Halal Cart on 83rd and Second Avenue, spewing Islamophobic invective and accusing him of supporting terrorists.
“The holy Quran that some people use as a toilet. What do you think of that, the Quran is used as a toilet. Does it bother you?” says Seldowitz in one video.
“The Mukhabarat in Egypt will get your parents. Does your father like his fingernails? They’ll take them out one by one,” he says at one point, while smiling.
“If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, it wasn’t enough,” he says in another video.
“We never have any trouble with anyone,” the worker, who is an Egyptian immigrant, told Documented. “We have been nice to the homeless in the community too. Every day we give away free food when we have leftovers.”
The most incredible part of this story is what Seldowitz did in the Obama administration: he was served as deputy director of the United States Department of State’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs.
Gotham Government Relations, where Seldowitz was a consultant, has dropped ties with him over the revelations. “The video of his actions is vile, racist, and beneath the dignity of the standards we practice at our firm,” the company said in a statement. The firm’s president David Schwartz said he was “absolutely outraged” by the video and would represent the food vendor pro bono if he wanted to sue Seldowitz.
“If I had to do it all over again, I would not have raised the religious aspect,” Seldowitz told City & State New York. “I don’t think I’m an Islamophobic guy. I’ve spoken up for equal treatment of Muslims on numerous occasions with numerous different people.”
Odds & Ends
🇵🇸 ‘Israel and Hamas agree to a temporary truce, release captives and prisoners’
💰 ‘Democrats remain out of step with their base on military aid to Israel’
😮 Very disturbing detail about the ceasefire in Politico:
But the administration remains wary about Netanyahu’s endgame and seeming lack of a plan for what to do once Hamas is defeated. There was no sense that the pause would turn into a lengthier cease-fire, a senior administration official said. And there was some concern in the administration about an unintended consequence of the pause: that it would allow journalists broader access to Gaza and the opportunity to further illuminate the devastation there and turn public opinion on Israel.
🔴 Three people were arrested following a Palestine protest at Elbit Systems in New Hampshire. Here’s Democratic NH Senator Jeanne Shaheen saying it’s antisemitic to vandalize a weapons manufacturer on Twitter: “What happened at Elbit in Merrimack yesterday was an act of vandalism – not free speech. At a time of rising antisemitism in America, this must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I’m grateful to law enforcement for keeping Elbit employees safe.”
📄 Some statements and parts from statements on the temporary truce.
U.S. Palestinian Community Network:
“USPCN and all Palestinians don’t trust Israel. Its government, military, and spokespeople lie all the time, as we’ve seen in the past 45 days. And they have been violating agreements for decades. An international mechanism — separate from the dishonest U.S. broker — is needed to hold Israel accountable to the agreements and to international law in general.”
“These 45 days and this agreement also does something else: it exposes Israel to the world as the racist, white supremacist, settler-colonialist, apartheid, criminal, zionist state that it is. It exposes Biden and Harris and Durbin and Duckworth and Schumer and Schakowsky and Casten and Pritzker and the entire Democratic Party establishment in the U.S. as cheerleaders for war crimes, killing, and genocide. There is no “inside strategy” anymore for Arabs and Palestinians in this country. The Democratic Party doesn’t care about us at all. And of course neither do the Republicans. Shame on them all. History will judge them, and Biden may be judged sooner than that.”
Justice Democrats Executive Director Alexandra Rojas:
“A temporary cessation in violence is a necessary but only temporary reprieve on the six weeks of incessant bombing and destruction waged by the far-right Israeli government against Palestinian civilians and is the first step in reunifying all Israeli and Palestinian families who have been taken prisoner by both Hamas and Israel. This was only achieved because millions of people in this country and around the world have rallied and continue to demand a permanent ceasefire, led by a small group of progressive anti-war champions in Congress that we are proud to endorse.
“This incomplete deal makes it abundantly clear that there is no military solution to this conflict, and we must continue demanding a permanent ceasefire—which does not include $14 billion more in military weapons and bombs for the Israeli military to continue committing its ethnic cleansing campaign. Since 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas, 14,000 Palestinians—including over 5,800 children—have been killed, thousands more are at risk of starvation and dehydration, and 1.7 million Palestinians, 80% of the population in Gaza, have been displaced.“
“If we truly believe in ensuring peace and security for all Israelis and Palestinians, it begins with the United States ending its unconditional political and financial support for a far-right government that continues to openly tell us its plans to annihilate and displace the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. The status quo before October 7 was apartheid and occupation, the future must be freedom for all people.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI):
“A temporary pause in the violence is not enough. We must move with urgency to save as many lives as possible and achieve a permanent ceasefire agreement. Over 14,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since this violence began, including thousands of children, and 1.7 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes.
“Further displacement of Palestinians and forced annexation of their land will only perpetuate this conflict. Expanding the illegal occupation will never lead to a just and lasting peace. We must address the root causes of this conflict.
“When this short-term agreement expires, the bombing of innocent civilians will continue. We need a permanent ceasefire that saves lives, brings all the hostages and those arbitrarily detained home, and puts an end to this horrific violence.”
Jewish Voice for Peace:
JVP welcomes reports of a temporary cessation in violence and return of Israeli and Palestinian women and children as a first step, and calls for a permanent ceasefire.
A permanent ceasefire is urgently needed to save lives. In response to the call from Palestinian civil society, historic numbers of people across the U.S. and the world have risen up to make this demand, and we are now seeing that the pressure is working.
We welcome reports of a temporary reprieve from Israel’s brutal bombardment of Palestinian civilians, and of the entrance of more humanitarian aid reaching Palestinians in Gaza. We also welcome the release and return home of more Israeli civilians held by Hamas and of Palestinian women and children held by Israel. Every single life saved — Palestinian and Israeli — is saving a whole universe.
🏫 Tweet from Columbia SJP: “Excited to announce we have officially hit 80 student organizations in our coalition in just one week! Columbia students, please mobilize your organizations to join our coalition! We are showing Columbia that the students refuse to be complicit in apartheid and genocide.”
⚖️ ‘DeSantis, University of Florida sued over SJP ban’:
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the administration at the University of Florida are being sued over the state’s ban on a Palestine campus group.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) , the ACLU of Florida and Palestine Legal filed the lawsuit on behalf of the University of Florida’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The groups say that students’ First Amendment rights have been violated by the move.
“Free speech is a foundational value of our democracy, and our right to discover new perspectives — and share our own — relies on the robust protection of free speech on public college and university campuses,” tweeted the ACLU. “In Healy v. James, the Supreme Court was clear: ‘Nowhere is free speech more important than in our leading institutions of higher learning.’ Florida’s deactivation order chills speech, fosters an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and violates the First Amendment.”
🚫 ‘The ADL is leading the attack against free speech on Palestine’
⚕️ ‘U.S. medical and public health institutions are complicit in genocide’
🇮🇱 ‘Nides can’t convince his own children to take Israel’s side’
🏫 From The Intercept: Harvard Law Review editors vote to kill article about genocide in Gaza.
🇺🇸 ‘From Lawsuits to Protests, Pro-Palestinian Americans Are Pushing Biden to Pivot’
🇵🇸 USA Today profiled our colleague Tareq, who has been reporting for us from Gaza.
Stay safe out there,
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