As diaspora Jews we know what it is to be afraid of antisemitism. In the lead up to the Holocaust, the Jewish film moguls of Hollywood were too frightened of the backlash they would get to exposing Hitler.
They were concerned they would somehow be seen as having dual loyalty if they dared criticise a man simply because he had stated genocidal intentions towards their co-religionists. The medium of film was already suspected by some of being some new-fangled Jewish way of undermining American values; they didn’t want to attract even more suspicion.
Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator (Photo: United Artists Corporation)[Missing Credit]
It took a non-Jew – Charlie Chaplin – to make the first great film satirising the Nazi dictator. 1940s The Great Dictator was his first movie in sound.
After the war ended and the fear of the fascists became the Red Fear that reticence to call out the far right didn’t do much to save Jewish filmmakers who were inordinately accused of being communists and blacklisted.
This is movie making history, of course, but the point I’m trying to make is that while Hollywood is stuffed full of brilliant Jews (even if they sometimes put fake noses on non-Jews to Judaicise other brilliant Jews), when things are tough for all of us, they often go quiet.
And so we see it. It took Steven Spielberg two months to say anything about the events of October 7. Barbra Streisand put out the most anodyne, wilfully blind and egocentric of comments: ‘When I first met Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres years ago, I asked him, ‘How can you help the Palestinians?’ He replied, ‘By making their lives better!’ We needed his advice then and we should urgently heed it now. In my humble opinion, we need a two-state solution that will hopefully bring peace and prosperity to the region.’
Barbra Streisand (Photo: CBS)[Missing Credit]
At least she spoke. Many Jewish stars have stayed silent; it’s hard to work out whether they are afraid of the social media mob, the effect it will have on their careers or both.
But it troubles me that 90 years on when Chaplin had to be the first to say, ‘this is wrong’ and 75 years after the independence of the state of Isarel, so many Jewish stars are afraid to speak.
So, this column is dedicated to those who did. Hollywood’s Jerry Seinfeld flew to Israel and met the families of the hostages.
Jewish American comedian Jerry Seinfeld visits Israel this week to meet with the families of hostages and hostages who have been recently released. (Photo: Bring Them Home Now/X)[Missing Credit]
Television star Debra Messing went down to the South of Israel to witness the devastation and Britain’s own Gregg Sulkin who met the hostage families and posted from the Western Wall: ‘Standing here, I am reminded of the enduring spirit and resilience of the Jewish people. In the shadow of these ancient stones, I reflect on our everlasting prayers for peace.’ The singer Pink lit her Chanukah candles – despite thousands of hate-filled Instagram posts – while Moscow born Daniel Donskoy who played James Hewitt in The Crown proudly showed his El Al airline ticket.
Debra Messing (Photo: Getty Images)Getty Images for Tribeca Festiva
Over here the usual suspects; Rachel Riley, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Maureen Lipman, David Baddiel and Rob Rinder have been as brilliant as ever and who knew that Stephen Fry would shock most of the country which his admission of his Jewish roots in his 60s, and host Channel 4’s alternative Christmas message.
Now I’m not a huge fan of celebs continuously spouting their politics, but at the same time, I wish more would be braver; particularly the powerful ones. Because each time one of them proudly says: ‘I am a Jew and I stand with my people’ it makes it easier for people who feel powerless.
