Letters to the Editor: You don’t have to support Netanyahu to reject Jonathan Glazer’s remarks

To the editor: “The Zone of Interest” director Jonathan Glazer’s remarks at the Academy Awards on Sunday have sharply divided the Jewish community into a convenient but distorted framework — either one is pro-Israel or anti-Israel. This distortion is counterproductive.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have condemned their own government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both before and after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. His government has failed Israel, and it continues to do so.

This division ignores the realities of Hamas’ atrocities, its stranglehold over the Palestinians, its use of Palestinian civilians as human shields, the millions of dollars Hamas spent constructing tunnels instead of caring for its people and, most important, the threat Hamas poses to Israel’s very existence.

There is no lapel pin that can represent this debacle.

Louis Lipofsky, Beverly Hills

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To the editor: I loved Glazer’s brilliant film, but his acceptance speech at the Oscars was a muddled mess.

Believing that the attack on Israel by terrorists necessitates Israel’s defensive war on Hamas does not “hijack” the Shoah or anyone’s Jewishness. Jews existed in Israel long before 6 million people were killed in lands foreign to them.

Hamas knew the war would be hell when it incited this horror, but its leaders did not care. If they released the rest of the hostages they took from Israel on Oct. 7, this war would be over.

I want the war to end. I want Palestinians to have peace, food and education that is universal and does not include brainwashing.

Hamas, which is aligned with the leaders of Iran, wants to eradicate the Jewish people. Judaism doesn’t try to convert. It never has. Peace is there if we respect each other.

Netanyahu will be history with the next election. Hopefully the Palestinians will get better leaders as well.

Lisa Boyle, Pacific Palisades