“The Zone of Interest” (2023) was one of the most introspective films of the year, noting the intricate dangers of ignoring atrocities as it delves into the complex psychology of individuals at the hands of such horrors. The film’s director, Jonathan Glazer, took the stage at this year’s Oscars to condemn the brutal war currently being waged on Gaza.

“Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people,” Glazer said.

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In the two weeks since his speech, Glazer has been met with a wave of criticism and backlash from peers, leading to a growing sentiment of him being blacklisted by the industry. This hatred is being directly fueled by reporters misquoting Glazer and intentionally ending the quote after “refute their Jewishness” to make his statement seem antisemitic, when in reality Glazer was using his Jewish heritage as reasoning to showcase sympathy for horrendous atrocities. 

While the Oscars’ official YouTube channel has posted every winning speech of the night, Glazer’s speech remains conspicuously absent. However, sources from ABC told The Hollywood Reporter that the speech was not yet posted due to a contractual agreement with ABC. Still, current discourse surrounding Glazer’s words raises questions about the extent to which powerful interests can silence dissenting voices, even in a space that prides itself on pushing boundaries and challenging norms.  The suppression of support for Palestine is becoming exceedingly pervasive and overt in multiple mediums.

The United States House of Representatives recently passed a bill to ban TikTok, citing safety concerns and data breaches linked to its parent company, ByteDance, which is owned by Chinese nationals. However, it’s worth noting that despite collecting more data than TikTok, Facebook and Google have never faced calls for an outright ban or even similar scrutiny.

Some lawmakers appear to actually be concerned with TikTok users’ fervent support for Palestine and their use of the platform for organizing. Legislators such as Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley have even outright declared that TikTok’s pro-Palestinian advocacy justifies a ban in the U.S., a stance that may be influenced by the substantial $58 million in lobbying support from pro-Israel donors that American lawmakers received in the past election cycle.

Instagram’s recent decision to, by default and without notice, restrict political content from accounts you don’t follow may be an even more significant infringement than data collection. This decision could prevent critical political issues from reaching a more neutral audience who don’t willingly seek out political content, as it relies on users actively changing their settings to view such content, effectively censoring important discourse and stifling expression on the platform.

In universities, which have long been centers of American political activism, the freedom of faculty to participate in politics is under scrutiny. The University of California Board of Regents is being pressured by pro-Israel lawmakers to consider a policy that would regulate how academic departments can express political views on university websites, including a prohibition on posting such statements on their primary pages.

It is evident that there is a deliberate attempt to suppress dissent against the violence Palestine currently faces. This raises a significant question: Why is there no space for accountability, discussion or even a voice that isn’t staunchly pro-Israel when it comes to Palestine?

The situation in Gaza is rapidly deteriorating, with the death toll surpassing 30,000, the majority of which are women and children. In the face of this incredible violence, government entities, social media platforms and academic institutions continue to staunchly support Israel. This backing is largely fueled by monetary and political interests in the form of lobbying efforts and pro-Israel influence within universities.

The unified front of support for Israel from some of the highest ranking positions of power in the U.S. underscores a chilling reality: the bodies of Palestinians are being deemed expendable, especially in the face of immeasurable greed. People in these positions of power are encroaching on new levels of censorship that directly breach the rights of citizens to speak freely or even show an ounce of support for Palestine.

The American people must staunchly oppose any attempts to curtail our freedoms and must persist in championing the rights of Palestinians, which are intertwined with our own. In a world rife with ongoing injustices and violence, powerful entities will always seek to conceal such atrocities. In this instance, it is up to the American people. We possess voices to speak up for voiceless Palestinians, and we must resist with unwavering determination.

Correction (March 28 at 10:15 p.m.): A previous version of this article failed to state that the video of Jonathan Glazer’s speech was not posted due to a contractual agreement between ABC and the Oscars. The article has been updated to reflect that the Academy’s decision to not post the video was due to that contract. The Daily Trojan regrets this error.