Dr. Sharon Nazarian - Variety Hollywood & Antisemitism Summit
ADL National Board of Directors
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FunTranscript
00:00 Today I speak to you with a heart that is heavy, and I looked at our shared and seemingly
00:08 shattered world.
00:11 Last year, the American Jewish community endured the worst year for antisemitic incidents since
00:17 ADL began tracking incidents more than four decades ago.
00:22 There was a total of 3,697 incidents reported across the US in 2022, an increase of 36%
00:31 compared to 2021, which in itself was a record-setting year as well.
00:37 ADL's report, Hate in the Golden State, right here, documented that there were 518 antisemitic
00:45 incidents in California alone in 2022, an increase of over 41% over 2021.
00:54 ADL has tracked a high-volume increase in organized white supremacist propaganda activity,
01:00 a rise in incidents at K-12 schools and on college campuses, and a spiking bomb threats
01:07 towards Jewish institutions.
01:10 And this was all before October 7th.
01:15 On that Saturday morning, the world permanently changed for most Jews around the world.
01:22 From a post-Holocaust, never again world, to a world we can kind of see how it could
01:28 happen again.
01:30 That barbaric and unconscionable attack on innocent civilians in Israel was an attack
01:36 on all of us.
01:39 The unearthing of the devastation in the past week in Israel has been some of the most heartbreaking
01:44 moments that I, as a professional, as a Jewish American, and as a human being, has personally
01:52 experienced.
01:53 And I have to tell you, I've personally experienced a revolution as an Iranian American, the 1979
02:01 Iranian Revolution.
02:03 So with all that sorrow, we also gained a sober clarity.
02:08 We must all come to terms with what Hamas is and what it's not.
02:14 Hamas is not an army.
02:16 They are not freedom fighters.
02:19 They are not a political party.
02:23 They are a genocidal, Islamist, extremist, terror organization, 100% dedicated to destroying
02:31 the Jewish state and the Jewish people.
02:35 It is all stated very clearly in their charter.
02:38 Just look it up.
02:39 Literally Google Hamas charter.
02:43 Their charter commits their followers not to achieving a two-state solution, not even
02:48 a Palestinian one, but to the simple goal of destroying the Jewish state.
02:55 70% of its budget comes from the country where I was born, Iran.
03:03 Given that the Iranian regime is the number one state sponsor, we had a deal called, literally
03:09 label Iran the number one state sponsor of terror around the globe, the largest propagator
03:16 of antisemitism and Holocaust denial in the world.
03:20 They literally have Holocaust cartoon contests to see who will win the cartoon that denies
03:27 a Holocaust most effectively.
03:31 So let's be clear.
03:32 This tragedy has global implications.
03:36 We know that the barbaric actions of Hamas have already triggered a deluge of antisemitic
03:42 incidents and attitudes against Jews in every major capital.
03:50 In the US, ADL is already seeing a spike in antisemitic incidents, over 107 since October
03:58 7th.
03:59 We have seen rising antisemitic incidents in Germany, where stars of David were found
04:05 painted outside of homes of Jewish Germans.
04:09 In Australia, at a pro-Hamas rally, they chanted, "Gas the Jews."
04:15 The Colombian president, the only head of state, outright applauded Hamas.
04:23 In South Africa, there are calls to boycott Jewish businesses.
04:28 And in the UK, where some of the largest pro-Hamas rallies were held, the Jewish communities
04:34 already experienced a 500% spike in antisemitic incidents.
04:41 Added to this, ADL is monitoring the rising crimes against Muslim communities and acts
04:48 of Islamophobia.
04:50 We all saw in Illinois, where an innocent six-year-old little boy, a Palestinian-American
04:55 boy, was gruesomely murdered and his mother was stabbed.
05:00 So this is a stark situation we're facing, and at ADL, we're mobilizing in a way that
05:05 is unprecedented for our 110 years of existence.
05:10 ADL's Center on Extremism is monitoring pro-Hamas rallies held across US cities and across the
05:18 globe.
05:19 We are monitoring insightful anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric proliferating on social
05:25 media.
05:26 You've all seen it.
05:27 On the far left and even the extreme right.
05:32 Our J7 Joint Task Force is working around the clock using every diplomatic resource
05:38 that we have available in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Australia, France, and Argentina,
05:45 working with those governments and NGOs to ensure the safe return of the Israeli hostages
05:50 held in Gaza.
05:53 We're also working across education and business sectors today to ensure that on campuses and
06:00 in boardrooms, free speech does not morph into anti-Jewish hate speech, and that leaders
06:06 have what they need to address antisemitism and anti-Zionism.
06:13 That they understand pro-Hamas is the same as being pro-Taliban or pro-ISIS.
06:21 That's what that means.
06:23 We know that such efforts is also especially critical in your industry, in the entertainment
06:29 sector.
06:31 Film and television play an incredibly important and powerful role in the way people learn
06:35 about and understand communities that's different from their own.
06:41 Media and entertainment have the ability to change hearts and minds and build deeper understanding
06:47 and empathy.
06:49 It's why ADL recently launched a Media and Entertainment Institute, formed by our work
06:54 that the ADL Leadership Council has provided us.
06:59 You all know better than we do at ADL, media and entertainment has incredible power to
07:04 influence and to educate through storytelling.
07:09 Hollywood must play a bigger role in fighting back against antisemitism and supporting the
07:13 Jewish community through the power of film and television.
07:17 So I'm here to ask you to please use your voices to speak out against Hamas, against
07:22 terrorism and against hate of all forms.
07:27 Please do not stay silent in this dark moment in our history.
07:31 Post on your social media platforms, sign on to ADL's workplace against antisemitism,
07:37 men you have corporate affiliations, get them to sign that pledge.
07:43 And engage, speak and act.
07:48 I also want to thank Variety and all those responsible for today's summit.
07:52 You have a powerful voice and coming together as a community during these perilous times
07:57 is both critically important and deeply moving.
08:01 This will reverberate across the world and I know in Israel they will hear you.
08:07 So I want to thank you all and really appreciate the fact that we've come together as a community
08:11 to speak.
08:11 Thank you.
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