The renowned Jewish American director Steven Spielberg announced in Los Angeles that his new film will tackle the Palestinian uprising describing the sad history of holocaust as being repeated these days in Palestine.
The Lebanese daily al Safir cited Spielberg as saying, “As an American director and happen to be Jew too, I cannot keep silent about what the Israelis and Zionist movement are doing in the name of Judaism and with the help of money we pay as taxes.”
He added, “the sad history of the holocaust is repeating itself in Palestine by those who claim that they carry out their actions in the name of Judaism.”
Spielberg who directed the most influential film on the holocaust Schindler's List, condemned Hollywood directors who refrained from tackling the Palestinian issue “fearing of what is described as “blind support for Israel by Hollywood. This action has come despite the fact that these directors tackle liberal issues,” he said.
Critics anticipate that Spielberg will face strong opposition in Hollywood while a spokesman for Dream Works which is supposed to produce the film said that his company had not yet seen the film’s project declining to comment on Spielberg’s statement.
The most commercially-successful filmmaker in Hollywood history, released in 1993 Schindler's List, an epic docudrama set during the Holocaust, which won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Spielberg’s advertence in the holocaust was not only limited to this film but also to his establishing Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation with an urgent mission: to videotape and preserve the testimonies of Holocaust survivors and witnesses.
Schindler's List was not the only film in which he showed his support for the Jewish issues as many critics noted his deliberation to introduce Jewish roles for his films in a manner that aroused sympathy with such characters.
In 1987, the Jewish Film Archive founded in the late 1960s at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, received a generous donation from Spielberg and the Archive was named after the American filmmaker, whose continuing interest in our activities is a source of pride. In 1973 the Archive was designated by the World Zionist Organization (WZO) as the official depository of its films.
Now, Steven Spielberg is expressing his resentment of “what the Israelis and Zionist movement are doing in the name of Judaism and with the help of money we pay as taxes,” -- Albawaba.com
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
