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Hollywood’s Red Hand amos Español
Mavens of a Jewish town shamed by their Jewishness THANE ROSENBAUM Distinguished University Professor Touro University
T
he 97th annual Academy Awards took place on Sunday night. Long before statues were handed out, the anticipation was eclipsed by the glamorous parade of designer finery — not the tuxes, dresses and gowns but one added accessory: a Red Hand pin worn specially for the red carpet. With an auditorium filled with so many wardrobe aficionados, a discretely worn, harmless-looking pin made both a political and fashion statement at the same time. What political statement, specifically? For both Palestinians and Israelis, the pin represents the bloody hands of a terrorist who in 2000, in the West Bank, carved up two soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces and gleefully displayed his handiwork from an open window to a cheering horde. He was eventually imprisoned, but not before explaining: “We were in a
Winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature was “No Other Land,” a film which focuses on Israeli soldiers tearing down homes and evicting Arab residents of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, to create a training ground for the IDF. From left: Israeli journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham, US producer Rachel Szor, Emirati filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, and Palestinian journalist and filmmaker Basel Adra.
Frederic J. Brown, AFP via Getty Images via JNS
craze to see blood. … I saw that my hands were drenched with blood, … so I went over to the window, and I waved my hands at the people…” Eleven years later, in 2011, he, along with senior Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar — who would become the mastermind of the Hamasled massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — was set free in a hostage-prisoner exchange. Gracing the red carpet while wearing a Red Hand pin is a celebration of savagery. Noble intentions could never be demonstrated with such a ghoulish symbol. The people who live and die in the region know better, even if you don’t. Guy Pearce somehow got the message. Nominated for Best Supporting Actor, he wore a white dove-shaped pin embossed with “Free Palestine.” He had his facts wrong (Gaza was free), but at least he wasn’t rejoicing in Jewish blood. ho would wish to wear such a red badge of dishonor on Tinseltown’s biggest night, anyway? On the same day that three of the four members of the Bibas family (Shiri Bibas, 32, and her two sons, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months) were laid to See Hollywood’s blood-drenched on page 2
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Having a joyous Purim without the booze JAN LEE
A
s we have done for decades, my husband and I will celebrate Purim with a sumptuous meal and copious amounts of good drink. It’ll be nothing compared to the 180day banquet that Queen Esther is
said to have hosted after the Jews of Persia were saved from Haman’s evil plans, but it will be festive. And keeping with today’s exhaustive list of medical advisories about food, it will probably be heart-healthy. Purim isn’t exactly the time when we look forward to reshaping our diet or our drinking habits, though. After all, it’s one of only two holidays in which Jews are actually commanded to eat and drink to excess. At Pesach, we’re expected to drink four glasses of wine (spread out, thankfully, throughout the seder) as a joyous celebration of the Israelites’ liberation from bondage. But both commandments are a bit baffling. Excessive drinking has never been an encouraged Jewish trait. In fact, until the 1970s to 1980s, Jews were among the least likely ethno-reSee Rethinking how on page 4
It’s a challenge to do a spiel in ‘fake news’ era By Sarah Ogince, JNS As the raucous festival of Purim approaches, editors of Jewish news outlets are gearing up to produce articles rife with satire, inside jokes and quotes from fictitious, suspiciously named sources. The holiday starts after sundown next Thursday, March 13. “Coming up to Purim, we’re looking around to something that’s in the news that’s not too serious but might take people in,” said Keren David, managing editor at the London-based Jewish Chronicle, which produces Purim
spiel stories every year. “It will be obvious to us that someone called Esther HaMalka being quoted isn’t real,” David said. “But then it will get picked up and circulated. That’s a sweet spot for us.” A relic of the full-scale satirical Purim editions, Purim news produced by news organizations has become less common in the digital age and even discontinued, in some cases, due to the risks — some Purim spoof news stories have been misappropriated as fodSee Purim papers on page 2