This weekend is key for the perception of Israel in the world. Not only because in Eurovision what matters least this year are the songs (all eyes are on the politics of the matter, obviously), but also because the juries of the Cannes Film Festival are already openly saying that censoring actresses like Susan Sarandon for opposing the war in Gaza is, directly, a shame (and yes, of course it is). And, in an obvious example that, although late, the balance is shifting, the co-star of Hacks has also spoken about it.
From the river to the sea
Hannah Einbinder, who already appeared in Hacks wearing a jersey of a Palestinian football team, stated in the podcast Beyond Israelism that she does not understand how it is possible that the majority of the Yankee audiovisual world remains silent: “It angers me. I see these people who have absolutely all the imaginable privileges of humanity and they can’t murmur a single word”.
“I suppose I am naive, but I can’t understand it. I really can’t. And I hear that people say they don’t know enough and I… I mean, okay, so what do you do all day?” I don’t think anyone is shocked coming from the actress who used her speech at the Emmys to simply say, “Free Palestine”. One of the few, along with Javier Bardem, who has used her privilege for something more than partying and pretending not to know what is happening.
“People in Hollywood, sadly, need these issues to affect a white person for them to feel that it matters to them. They see Jimmy Kimmel suddenly taken off the air, they see Stephen Colbert’s show canceled by CBS and they say ‘How could this happen?’. And we know how because we have seen students, teachers, journalists, authors, and people from Palestine being silenced, fired, and imprisoned… It has to happen to these white men for people to say ‘Oh my God'”. Honestly? Not a comma, queen.
