Israel-Gaza War (2023- )

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    Israel’s Eurovision Entrant Faces Down Her Critics

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    Campaigners have unsuccessfully urged the Eurovision Song Contest to ban Eden Golan because of her country’s war in Gaza. “I won’t let anything break me,” she said.Taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest is nerve-racking, even when the audience welcomes you to the stage.For one singer at this year’s contest, it will likely be a particularly anxious experience. When Eden Golan, 20, performs representing Israel at the second semifinal on Thursday, a significant portion of the audience will not be cheering for her. In fact, many people don’t want her country to be at Eurovision at all.For months, pro-Palestinian groups and some Eurovision fans have been trying in vain to get the contest’s organizers, the European Broadcasting Union, to ban Golan from taking part at this year’s event in Malmo, Sweden, because of Israel’s war in Gaza.Those protests were particularly vocal after the title of Golan’s entry was announced in February: “October Rain,” an apparent reference to last year’s Hamas attacks, in which Israeli officials say about 1,200 people were killed and 240 taken hostage. The European Broadcasting Union objected that the title and some of the song’s lyrics were overly political, and asked Israel to change them. Golan tweaked the song, which is now called “Hurricane.”Golan with members of her team at a recording studio in Tel Aviv last month.Amit Elkayam for The New York TimesEurovision’s organizers have always insisted that the contest is no place for politics, and this year is clamping down on slogans and symbols that could stir up dissent. Bambie Thug, representing Ireland, said at a news conference on Tuesday that, after a dress rehearsal, officials had demanded that the singer remove pro-Palestinian slogans from an outfit.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Jerry Seinfeld Can No Longer Be About Nothing

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      The comedian, long beloved for his apolitical riffs, has been wrestling with what it means to be Jewish amid the Israel-Hamas war. Not everyone is pleased.Jerry Seinfeld became a mic-cradling, cereal-eating, “did-you-ever-notice”-ing avatar of American Jewish life with a brazenly shrugging persona: a merry indifference to weighty material as a comedian and in his megahit TV show about nothing, as petty and apolitical as he seemed to be.Now — off-camera, at least — Mr. Seinfeld appears to have reached his post-nothing period.Since the attacks of Oct. 7 in Israel, and through their bloody and volatile aftermath in Gaza, Mr. Seinfeld, 70, has emerged as a strikingly public voice against antisemitism and in support of Jews in Israel and the United States, edging warily toward a more forward-facing advocacy role than he ever seemed to seek across his decades of fame.He has shared reflections about life on a kibbutz in his teens, and in December traveled to Tel Aviv to meet with hostages’ families, soberly recounting afterward the missile attack that greeted him during the trip.He has participated, to a point, in the kind of celebrity activism with which few associate him — letter-signing campaigns, earnest messages on social media — answering simply recently when asked about the motivation for his visit to Israel: “I’m Jewish.”And as some American cities and college campuses simmer with conflict over the Middle East crisis and Israel’s military response, Mr. Seinfeld has faced a measure of public scorn that he has rarely courted as a breakfast-obsessed comedian, intensified by the more vocal advocacy of his wife, Jessica, a cookbook author.This week, as the couple and their children appeared together at the premiere of Mr. Seinfeld’s new movie (“Unfrosted,” about Pop-Tarts), Ms. Seinfeld attracted attention for another reason: She promoted on Instagram, and said she had helped bankroll, a counterprotest at the University of California, Los Angeles, where clashes with pro-Palestinian demonstrators have turned violent.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Palestinian Flags Fly at Protests Worldwide. They Won’t Be at Eurovision.

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      The organizers of the glitzy singing contest said that attendees would be allowed to wave only the flags of participating nations — including Israel’s.Protesters are waving Palestinian flags on American college campuses and in cities around the world to put pressure on Israel to end the war in the Gaza Strip. But there is one place where that symbol will be absent next week: inside the Eurovision Song Contest.Attendees at this year’s event in Malmo, Sweden, which starts on Tuesday, will not be allowed to bring Palestinian flags or wave banners with slogans about the war between Israel and Hamas, a spokesperson for the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the contest, said on Thursday.Ticket buyers at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest are allowed to bring and display only flags representing the 37 participating countries, the spokesperson said in an email. That includes Israel. The only exceptions are rainbow and pride flags representing L.G.B.T.Q. people, the spokesperson added.Eurovision has long billed itself as an apolitical contest. The spokesperson said although the flags policy was reviewed every year, it had not changed since the last edition, held in Liverpool, England. But the rule has upset some Eurovision fans who for months have been calling for the event’s organizers to ban Israel from taking part because of its military campaign in Gaza.Inga Straumland, an Icelandic fan, called the decision to disallow Palestinian flags “appalling” and said in an interview that the move was “a strong limit on freedom of expression,” especially given that the flag of Israel, a Eurovision contestant, would be present.Although Israel is not in Europe, the country is eligible to compete because its broadcaster is a member of the European Broadcasting Union. The country has won Eurovision four times since first entering in 1973.This year, the 20-year-old singer Eden Golan will represent Israel with the song “Hurricane.” Until European Broadcasting Officials intervened, its original title was “October Rain,” and Eurovision fans have widely interpreted it as a statement about Israeli grief after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks that Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people.The Eurovision Song Contest is the world’s most watched cultural event. Last year, over 56 million viewers tuned into the competition final live on television, with some 7.6 million more watching on YouTube.Since Eurovision began in 1956, the European Broadcasting Union has banned political statements from the stage, insisting the contest should unify countries rather than dividing them. But this year it has struggled to stop the war in Gaza from making its presence felt.In the months after Israel began its military campaign in Gaza, thousands of musicians and fans from countries including Iceland, Ireland and Sweden signed petitions urging Eurovision’s organizers to ban Israel from the event over the high rate of civilian deaths and the widespread destruction in the occupied territory, where the United Nations says the population is now on the brink of famine.The campaigners say that Eurovision’s ban on Russia participating after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine set a precedent. But Eurovision’s organizers reject the comparison. “We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East,” the broadcasting union said in a statement in January. Still, it added, Eurovision is “not a contest between governments.”In a more recent statement on its website, the broadcasting union said it would not clamp down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations outside the arena during this year’s finals. The union “is a firm advocate for freedom of speech,” the statement said, adding: “We understand that people may wish to make their voices heard and support the right of those who wish to demonstrate peacefully.”Dean Vuletic, an author of a book on Eurovision’s political history, said in a telephone interview that its organizers had clamped down on flags in 2016, in part to prevent the display of the symbols of terrorist groups like the Islamic State. They also banned flags from disputed territories and those promoting separatist causes — much to the annoyance of fans from Kosovo and Catalonia. Even the European Union’s flag, which was previously allowed, is now not permitted, Vuletic added.Some fans said they accepted the policy. Sophia Ahlin, the chair of a Swedish Eurovision fan club, said in a text message that “it’s nothing unusual” to allow only flags from participating nations.But others said the contest’s decision had turned them off. Straumland, the Icelandic fan, said she would not be watching this year’s event because of Israel’s involvement, even though Eurovision was “the biggest source of happiness in my life along with my son.” Instead, she said, she would be going to an alternative party, where drag and burlesque acts would cover old Eurovision hits.And, she added, she would be taking a Palestinian flag. More

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      ‘Zone of Interest’ Oscars Speech Is Defended by Jewish Film Artists

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      Remarks about Israel that the director Jonathan Glazer made as he accepted an Oscar for “The Zone of Interest” drew a letter of support after facing criticism last month.More than 150 Jewish actors, filmmakers and other artists signed an open letter that was published on Friday in defense of remarks about Jewishness and the war in Gaza that the director Jonathan Glazer made in his Oscars acceptance speech for “The Zone of Interest,” his film about the Holocaust.Glazer’s speech has become one of the most hotly debated in Oscars history, drawing an open letter of strong denunciation from other Jewish film professionals last month and now one of support.“Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people,” Glazer, who is Jewish, said at the Academy Awards on March 10. “Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?”The new letter expresses support for Glazer. “In his speech, Glazer asked how we can resist the dehumanization that has led to mass atrocities throughout history,” it says. “For such a statement to be taken as an affront only underscores its urgency.”Its signatories included the actors Joaquin Phoenix, Hari Nef and Debra Winger; the directors Joel Coen, Nicole Holofcener and Boots Riley; the playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard; and the artist Nan Goldin, according to Variety, which reported the existence of the letter on Friday. Its signatories were confirmed by Sarah Sophie Flicker, an artist and cultural organizer who helped organize the letter.“We stand with all those calling for a permanent cease-fire, including the safe return of all hostages and the immediate delivery of aid into Gaza, and an end to Israel’s ongoing bombardment of and siege on Gaza,” the letter says.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Jewish Film Professionals Denounce Jonathan Glazer’s ‘Zone of Interest’ Speech

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      An open letter condemned remarks critical of Israel that Jonathan Glazer made when he accepted an Oscar for the film, which is about the Holocaust.Hundreds of Jewish actors, producers and others in the film industry have signed a letter condemning remarks critical of Israel that the director Jonathan Glazer made when he accepted an Oscar for his film about the Holocaust, “The Zone of Interest.”Described as a “statement from Jewish Hollywood professionals,” the letter was signed by the actors Debra Messing and Julianna Margulies; the producers Lawrence Bender and Amy Pascal; and the writer and showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino, according to Variety, which first reported on it on Monday evening.The signatories were confirmed Tuesday by Allison Josephs, an activist who has promoted Jewish representation in films and television and who helped with outreach for the letter. She said that by Tuesday morning it had nearly a thousand signatures.The letter criticized a speech Glazer made when he accepted the Oscar for international feature at the Academy Awards earlier this month for “The Zone of Interest,” which follows the Nazi commandant who runs Auschwitz and his family as they lead quiet domestic lives just beyond the walls of the camp.“All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present,” Glazer, who is Jewish, said as he accepted the Oscar. “Not to say ‘Look what they did then,’ rather, ‘Look what we do now.’ Our film shows where dehumanization leads, at its worst.”“Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people,” he said. “Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Some Oscar Attendees Delayed by Protesters Calling for Gaza Cease-Fire

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      Some Oscar attendees were delayed arriving at the Dolby Theater on Sunday when demonstrators calling for a cease-fire in Gaza filled lanes of traffic a few blocks south of the theater, according to the Los Angeles police.There were at least three protests about the Israel-Hamas war, said Capt. Kelly Muniz, a head of the Los Angeles Police Department’s media relations division. She said there were between 500 and 700 protesters at the largest demonstration, near the Cinerama Dome, a closed movie theater about a mile away from the Dolby Theater.At that protest, Laura Delhauer, an independent filmmaker who held a cardboard sign that read “Free Palestine,” said she hoped to put pressure on the U.S. government to end the conflict.“I’m heartbroken to know that our hard-earned tax dollars are going to pay for the murder of innocent civilians,” she said.Delhauer and other protesters marched down Sunset Boulevard as car horns honked, a helicopter hovered overhead and Los Angeles police officers in riot gear watched nearby.Captain Muniz said the Police Department had arrested one person for battery of a police officer in relation to the protests, which may have been connected to one another.By 4:30 p.m. local time, Captain Muniz said that the size of the protests had diminished but that some demonstrators were still seeking to “get into the gated areas” near the Oscars. After protesters tried to breach a chain-link fence near the entrance to the Dolby Theater, police officers secured it with zip ties.The largest protest was organized by groups including Film Workers for Palestine and SAG-AFTRA Members for Ceasefire.“With people from across the globe watching the Academy Awards, this is a Hail Mary opportunity,” said Anthony Bryson, one of the organizers. He added: “What’s happening in Gaza needs to have attention drawn to it. We wanted to bring as much resistance and visibility as possible.”Shortly after the protest began, a man dressed in a dark blue suit stood across the street holding both a United States flag and an Israeli flag. After a brief verbal altercation, protesters grabbed the Israeli flag and threw it into the street. The man walked away, surrounded by volunteer safety officers who had been brought in by protest organizers. More

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      Expecting Protests at the Oscars, Police Plan to Beef Up Security

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      The Los Angeles police said it would increase its presence at the Academy Awards, given the potential for protests related to the Israel-Hamas war.The Los Angeles police said it would increase its presence at the Academy Awards on Sunday night to make sure that potential protests related to the Israel-Hamas war do not disrupt the Oscars ceremony.Cmdr. Randy Goddard of the Los Angeles Police Department said it had gathered intelligence, based partially on social media posts, suggesting that at least one group “would like to stop the Academy Awards.”“It’s going to be our goal to ensure that the Academy Awards is successful, that guests can arrive safely and get into the venue,” said Commander Goddard, the police official leading the department’s management of the Oscars. “But, also, we are going to try very hard to make contact with the groups as they show up, and lay out the expectation that we as the police are here to support your First Amendment constitutional rights.”Some groups may try to block traffic or use other disruptive measures that demonstrators have leveraged at other events around the country, he said. Others may focus their efforts closer to the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, where the Oscars take place.Commander Goddard said the department would “build out more resources” to “help facilitate” any march or demonstration, but emphasized that it would not allow protesters to break the law or prevent guests from arriving safely to the Oscars. “We’re hopefully going to find that middle ground,” he said.A spokeswoman for the F.B.I. in Los Angeles said it maintained a presence at special events, including the Academy Awards, to share intelligence and to support its partners at the Los Angeles police.At this year’s Grammys, a few dozen pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside Crypto.com Arena, briefly blocking traffic by the drop-off area. A pro-Palestine protester with a loudspeaker stood outside the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica last month.The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which is hosting its 96th Oscars on Sunday, has dealt with disruptions over the years. Security has long been tight at the Oscars, which draws some of the world’s biggest stars to a live telecast viewed by millions of people.Commander Goddard said the Dolby Theater itself, which is secured by the Academy, is protected by railings, fencing, checkpoints and almost 2,000 private security guards. “My objective is to get the guests safely inside that venue,” he said. More

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      in Theater

      ‘The Ally,’ a Play About Israel and Free Speech, Tackles Big Issues

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      Itamar Moses wrote a drama of ideas about Israel and antisemitism. Then Oct. 7 happened.Before his audition for “The Ally,” a new play by Itamar Moses, the actor Michael Khalid Karadsheh printed out the monologue that his character, Farid, a Palestinian student at an American university, would give in the second act.The speech cites both the Mideast conflict’s specific history and Farid’s personal testimony of, he says, “the experience of moving through the world as the threat of violence incarnate.” Karadsheh — who booked the part — was bowled over.“I don’t think anyone has said these words about Palestine on a stage in New York in such a clear, concise, beautiful, poetic way,” said Karadsheh, whose parents are from Jordan and who has ancestors who were from Birzeit in the West Bank.Farid’s speech sits alongside others, though, in Moses’s play: one delivered by an observant Jew branding much criticism of Israel as antisemitic; another by a Black lawyer connecting Israel’s policies toward Palestinians to police brutality in the United States; another by a Korean American bemoaning the mainstream’s overlooking of East Asians. These speeches are invariably answered by rebuttals, which are answered by their own counter-rebuttals, all by characters who feel they have skin in the game.In other words, “The Ally,” which opens Tuesday at the Public Theater in a production directed by Lila Neugebauer and starring Josh Radnor (“How I Met Your Mother”), is a not abstract and none too brief chronicle of our times, a minestrone of hot-button issues: Israelis and Palestinians, racism and antisemitism, free speech and campus politics, housing and gentrification, the excesses of progressivism — even the tenuous employment of adjunct professors.“I don’t think anyone has said these words about Palestine on a stage in New York in such a clear, concise, beautiful, poetic way,” said Michael Khalid Karadsheh, who plays Farid.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More