From The Hollywood Reporter, July 26, 2010
NEW YORK – The Anti-Defamation League on Monday slammed filmmaker Oliver Stone for comments he made to the Sunday Times in the U.K., calling them anti-Semitic.
Abraham Foxman, ADL national director, said: “Oliver Stone has once again shown his conspiratorial colors with his comments about ‘Jewish domination of the media’ and control over U.S. foreign policy. His words conjure up some of the most stereotypical and conspiratorial notions of undue Jewish power and influence.”
Stone issued an apology Monday afternoon. “In trying to make a broader historical point about the range of atrocities the Germans committed against many people, I made a clumsy association about the Holocaust, for which I am sorry and I regret,” Stone said in a statement.
When asked in an interview with the Sunday Times of London why there was “such a focus on the Holocaust,” Stone replied: “The Jewish domination of the media.” He added: “They stay on top of every comment, the most powerful lobby in Washington. Israel has f***** up United States foreign policy for years.”
The American Jewish Committee also weighed in Monday, comparing Stone to Mel Gibson. “By invoking this grotesque, toxic stereotype, Oliver Stone has outed himself as an anti-Semite,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. “For all of Stone’s progressive pretensions, his remark is no different from one of the drunken, Jew-hating rants of his fellow Hollywood celebrity, Mel Gibson.”
The American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants also released a statement Monday. “We are deeply offended. These are words of hate and a disgraceful evocation of anti-Semitism. Shame on Oliver Stone.”
Times of London articles are behind a paywall, but that didn’t stop many publications from reprinting the quotes.
Stone made his comments in the context of discussing his new documentary, “South of the Border,” which concerns Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.
This isn’t the first time Stone has made controversial comments about the Holocaust. In January, he characterized Hitler as an “easy scapegoat” in a presentation to TV critics in support of his upcoming Showtime miniseries “Oliver Stone’s Secret History of America.”
Stone’s comments even echoed in Israel, where Yuli Edelstein, minister of diaspora affairs and public diplomacy, weighed in. “When a man of Stone’s stature says such things, it could lead to a new wave of anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism, and it may even cause real harm to Jewish communities and individuals.”
“Jews obviously do not control media or any other industry,” Stone’s statement continued. “The fact that the Holocaust is still a very important, vivid and current matter today is, in fact, a great credit to the very hard work of a broad coalition of people committed to the remembrance of this atrocity – and it was an atrocity.”
COMMENTARY:
Well, it’s always nice to hear an apology. Unfortunately, Stone said some things that simply cannot be taken back: Has he suddenly overnight learned that Jews are not “the most powerful lobby in Washington”? Did he immediately change his foreign policy opinion or does he still think Israel has “f***** up United States foreign policy for years?”
Throughout history, Anti-Semitism has been a difficult phenomenon to explain or understand:
For the last two thousand years, Anti-Semitism has not only demonstrated man’s inhumanity to man, it has also been a puzzle and bewilderment to the entire world. Nothing, and I mean nothing, about Anti-Semitism makes sense: Consider the following:
The only thing that the extreme Right and the extreme Left have in common is a hatred for Jews.
Some people view Judaism as a religion. Others view it as a race. It gets hated equally for either designation.
Those who object to the religion are known to call the Jews “Christ Killers.” But this only shows how little they understand Christianity, for the Bible teaches that Jesus meant to die, that it was God’s will to offer Him as a sacrifice for our sins, that if not for our sins, He would not have needed to perish, and as a result, we are all responsible for His death. One who does not understand this concept, basic and foundational to the gospel, does not understand Christianity and is not a true follower of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the bigot’s disdain for Jews is actually not religious at all and we are forced to view such hatred as a mystery.
On the other hand, those who view Jewish people as a race have a difficult time explaining exactly what it is about the race that they don’t like. Is it the skin color? Not all Jews have the same color of skin. Some are tan, but the Jews in Sweden have blond hair and blue eyes. They don’t all have big noses either and even if they did, many people have big noses. Those with big noses who are not Jewish are not hated.
OK, maybe it’s those “nasty Jewish traits.” After all, aren’t they a conspiracy of Communists trying to take over the world? Actually, just as many suggest that they are a conspiracy of greedy Capitalistic bankers trying to take over the world. The Nazis found it useful to accuse them of both, hoping nobody would notice the contradiction.
For those who believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, this mystery finds a partial explanation in what the Bible calls spiritual warfare. You may not believe in the existence of good angels and evil spirits. Other articles of mine defend their existence. For now, let’s just stipulate that whatever your opinion of the Bible, this is just exactly what the Bible teaches. Demonic beings seek to keep people from the love of God and these beings especially hate the Jews. They hate the Jews, because through the Jews, the Messiah came into the world. They hate the Jews because through the Jews we received the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.
The ability of demons to foster irrational hatred may be a missing piece of the puzzle here. If you don’t wish to accept this idea, so be it. But I hope you will at least agree with me that Anti-Semitism is a mystery because it makes absolutely no sense. Unfortunately, its lack of logic does not keep it from spreading.
For a while, it seemed as though most of modern civilization had put Anti-Semitism out in the pasture where it belongs. Unfortunately, it is returning like gangbusters. Anti-Semitism is as bad today as it has ever been and it is growing all over the world, not just the Arab world, but Europe, once again, where it had a happy home not so long ago.
Without attempting to explain the entire revival, I can say that the Israeli/Palestinian situation serves as the current fuel for hateful, ignorant fires. Notice Stone’s own comments quoted above about the Middle East. Until, we correct the historical revision, until we realize that the Jews (not the Palestinians) have been willing to share the Holy Land and live in peace, until we understand that there has NEVER been any illegal occupation, that Israel was legally given this land by the United Nations, and that further land was taken only after surrounding Arab countries threatened to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth, until we understand that the Palestinian charter does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, until we understand that no concession will be enough and no two state solution will be enough, that the Palestinian authorities simply want Israel dead, period, and until we deal with the cold truth that today’s universities and today’s media are spreading disinformation about Israel, I’m afraid Anti-Semitism is here to stay. But there is some silver lining: The Jews, once again (unwillingly but clearly) have proven to humankind that it has not advanced or evolved morally. This truth smacks head into the smugness and arrogance of our Politically Correct generation. But future generations will look back on 21st century conceit as a second Dark Age. “Liberal, enlightened” director, Oliver Stone has become the very thing he believes his movies speak against.
For further reading: The Truth About Israel And Palestine
Bob Siegel is a weekend radio talk show host on KCBQ and columnist. Details of his show can be found at www.bobsiegel.net. Comments to posts are discussed by Bob over the air where anyone is free to call in and respond/debate. Call in toll free number: 1-888-344-1170