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‘Judenrein’ Hollywood? The Troubling Trend in Jewish Representation
Woody Allen. Photo: David Shankbone via Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – Every year, as Hollywood shuts down for the winter holidays, an unassuming list makes its way into executive inboxes. “The Black List,” as it has been known for the last two decades, ranks the most popular unproduced screenplays of the year, according to the executives and producers who read them.
Getting a screenplay on this list can be a career-defining moment for a screenwriter. Ranking near the top of the list can fast-track a project to production. Many “Black List” screenplays have been produced, and a notable percentage have gone on to win Oscars. For a screenwriter like me, the list is a valuable source of industry intel. What stories are execs responding to this year? Who are the agents and managers shepherding these scripts?
I always scan the list for the kinds of stories that I like to write—elevated genre fare, mostly, as well as Jewish content. Without being able to read the screenplays themselves, I can only make my assessments of the screenplays based on the short loglines that describe them. The list usually includes some films with overtly Jewish content, typically Holocaust dramas or stories that center on antisemitism. This year, in the long shadow of the terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, I was particularly curious to see how Hollywood’s selective appetite for Jewish fare might have shifted. Here’s what I found.
Almost nothing.
Not even the usual clichés of Holocaust survival or the Jewish high-achiever biopic.
I found only one logline that might have some Jewishness to it. A script called “Bridgehampton” by Jeremy Leder. Here’s the logline: “Recently dumped Ezra Green accidentally brings a terminally ill woman home to Bridgehampton for a long weekend with his eccentric family. Don’t judge—he needs to cope with his estranged father who just got out of white-collar prison.”
The stereotypical Jewish coding here goes far beyond Ezra’s name. He’s “recently dumped” and “accidentally” brings a terminally ill woman home. So, he’s nebbish and inept, particularly when it comes to his relationships with women, see the persona popularized by Woody Allen. He’s from the Hamptons, so obviously he’s wealthy. His family is “eccentric” (read: “Jewish” and “other.”) And his father just got out of white-collar prison (“financial crimes,” Bernie Madoff, anyone?)
I don’t want to cast aspersions on Leder’s screenplay. For all I know, the story draws from his own lived experiences, and it might be a valuable piece of a diverse Jewish tapestry. But that this might be the only Jewish story that Hollywood execs found compelling enough to include on the “Black List” this year speaks volumes about the industry’s skittishness around Jewish content.
This may be the most Judenrein list I’ve seen, but the trend of avoiding Jewish stories is almost as old as Hollywood itself. The industry’s founders famously shied away from approving Jewish films for fear of drawing attention to their own Jewish identities. A generation later, it took decades for a mainstream film to depict the Holocaust (Sidney Lumet’s “The Pawnbroker”), and even then, it was only in brief flashbacks. In our era of diversity initiatives and calls for fair and favorable representation of minorities in media, Jews are portrayed through the narrowest possible lens. A recent groundbreaking study from the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center quantifies this, noting that the vast majority of Jewish characters are portrayed as white, presumably Ashkenazi, in high-powered professions with little or no religious affiliation. Orthodox Jews fare worse, often being portrayed as “other.”
This monochromatic depiction of Jews in popular entertainment is having serious and significant consequences. Perceptions that Jews have wealth and power drive antisemitic conspiracy theories—theories that might be countered by more stories about working-class Jews. The impression that all Jews are white Europeans plays a big role in the anti-Israel “colonialist” narrative—a narrative that might be undermined by more stories about Jews from Arab lands. Dehumanizing depictions of Orthodox or Chassidic Jews as a backward “other” makes it easier for people to brazenly attack those Jews on the streets of New York—attacks that might be mitigated if those Jews were portrayed and, consequently, seen as friends, neighbors, co-workers or fellow citizens.
A dramatic change is required in the way that Jews are portrayed in popular entertainment. But that change will not come from Hollywood. Those very executives who voted on the “Black List” scripts grew up on the same media stereotypes as the rest of the country. Their perceptions of Jews, even if they, themselves, are Jewish, derive at least in part from Hollywood itself. To break Hollywood’s Jewish mold and expand the palette of Jewish representation, we need to demonstrate the potential of those stories outside of the industry’s centers of power. Fortunately, this is already beginning to happen.
Independent filmmakers like Daniel Robbins are finding ways to push their Jewish stories onto the screen. His hysterical “Bad Shabbas” won the audience award at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. Nonprofits like the Maimonides Fund are also putting resources into the creation of Jewish-forward narrative entertainment and into professional development programs like the Jewish Writers’ Initiative Screenwriters Lab, which provides funding, industry access, and a supportive framework for screenwriters to write new, Jewish screenplays.
It’s a great start, but more needs to be done.
If we want Hollywood to invest in diverse Jewish stories, we must first invest in them ourselves. Jewish federations should create their own Jewish film funds to support local filmmakers. Synagogue groups and denominational organizations should do the same to help lift their own stories onto the screen. Most importantly, we all must do as much as we can to help amplify the Jewish content that does, by some miracle, get produced. It’s up to us to demonstrate to Hollywood that Jewish content, full of real, authentic, diverse Jewish voices, is a worthwhile investment. We must be the champions of our own stories.
The post ‘Judenrein’ Hollywood? The Troubling Trend in Jewish Representation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Imam at New Orleans Terrorist’s Local Mosque Says Jews ‘Like to Take Control of the Economy’
A member of the National Guard Military Police stands, in the area where people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year’s celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, US, Jan. 2, 2025. PHoto: REUTERS/Octavio Jones
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the man who according to law enforcement perpetrated the New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans, lived in Houston near a mosque led by a radical imam who preached that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler killed Jews because “they like to take control of the economy.”
The connection has raised questions about the ideology of Jabbar, a US Army veteran who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group. The FBI revealed on Thursday that Jabbar acted alone and that on the morning of the truck ramming attack, in which at least 14 people were killed and dozens more were injured, he posted several videos on social media saying he supported ISIS. An ISIS flag was also found on the trailer hitch of the rented vehicle involved in the New Orleans attack. In one of his recordings, Jabbar revealed that he initially intended to hurt his friends and family, but changed plans because he wanted to bring attention to the “war between believers and the disbelievers.”
Amid heightened concern about the threat of Islamist terrorism, observers are noting that Jabbar may have been radicalized at Masjid Bilal, a mosque in the northern Houston community where he lived. According to footage published by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) on Thursday, Imam Eiad Soudan, leader of the Masjid Bilal mosque in Houston, told congregants in November 2023 that Jews seek to “control the economy” across the world and that Hitler perpetrated the Holocaust to mitigate Jewish economic power. Soudan also argued that Europe only supports Israel as a means to prevent Jews from migrating into their countries.
Eiad Soudan, Imam of Houston Mosque Where New Orleans Attacker Worshiped: Jews Seek to Control the Economy Wherever They Go, That’s Why Hitler Killed Them; Europeans Support Israel Because They Don’t Want Jews Back in Their Countries (Archival) pic.twitter.com/AFXc7cIC82
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) January 2, 2025
“Why does the whole world want them to stay in Palestine?” he said. “Because if they don’t stay in Palestine, they will go back to their countries, and those people, unfortunately, have one problem — well, they have many problems, but that’s one of the main problems — they like to take control of the economy. Everywhere they go, whatever is the rule, as long as they get to the goal, the means don’t matter.”
Although Masjid Bilal is reportedly located a few minutes walk from Jabbar’s residence, the extent of his connection to the mosque is unknown.
According to law enforcement, Jabbar was fatally shot by police when he exited his truck and opened fire after driving his vehicle into a crowd of New Year’s revelers.
On Thursday, New York Post reporter Jennie Taer led a tour of Jabbar’s purported home, which had been raided by the FBI. The residence contained a variety of harmful chemicals, including bottles of sulfuric acid. The tour also revealed a “work station” with tools located in a presumed bedroom. A closet within the home also contained a keffiyeh, a traditional headscarf worn by Palestinians that has become known as a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian cause and opposition to Israel.
Jabbar’s brother, Abdur Rahim-Jabbar, told Fox News that his sibling was likely radicalized by an extremist interpretation of Islam.
Experts have warned of a rising global terror threat in the year following Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Last May, experts explained to The Algemeiner that “lone wolf” terrorists inspired by ISIS and al Qaeda could carry out attacks on US soil, incensed by the ongoing war in Gaza and inspired by terrorist violence abroad.
“As I look back over my career in law enforcement, I’m hard-pressed to come up with a time when I’ve seen so many different threats, all elevated, all at the same time,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in April.
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‘Join Hezbollah and Kill Jews’: Pennsylvania Man Indicted on Terrorism Charges
Members of Hezbollah carry the coffin of Hezbollah member Abbas Shuman, who was killed in southern Lebanon amidst tension between Israel and Hezbollah, during his funeral in Baalbek, Lebanon, Oct. 23, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amr Alfiky
A grand jury has federally indicted an American who absconded to the Middle East with the intention of joining Hezbollah — the Iran-backed Shia terrorist organization based in Lebanon — the US Department of Justice announced on Thursday.
The action affirmed the veracity of evidence that Jack Danaher Molloy, 24, had “attempted to provide material support and resources” to Hezbollah both in and out of the US, operating in his home state of Pennsylvania as well as in Syria and Lebanon between August and December 2024.
The venture ultimately proved unsuccessful, however, as Molloy — a dual citizen of Ireland and former active duty soldier for the US Army — was, according to the department, rejected by his would-be terrorist colleagues. They reportedly told him that “the time was not right” for his enlistment.
Molloy eventually returned to the US, where he made additional overtures to Hezbollah by contacting people online, some of whom lived in Lebanon. Throughout this time, he proclaimed himself to be pathologically antisemitic.
“Molloy, also allegedly expressed his hatred toward, and promoted violence against, Jewish people,” the Justice Department said. “Molloy’s alleged animus towards Jews was also evidenced by multiple images and and videos on his electronic devises and the usernames he chose for his social media and email accounts, including the username “K—EKILLER313″ on the social media platform X.”
It continued, “In one alleged WhatsApp exchange with a family member, Molloy agreed that his ‘master plan was to join Hezbollah and kill Jews.’ And while he was residing in Upper St. Clair, Molloy also allegedly visited a website detailing the possible incarceration location of Robert Bowers, who carried out the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shooting during which he murdered 11 Jewish worshippers.”
Hezbollah had been at war with Israel from October 2023, when the terrorist group began launching rockets at the Jewish state in solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, until November 2024, when a ceasefire was reached to halt fighting in northern Israel and neighboring Lebanon. Molloy’s activities coincided with a surge in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, during which the former intensified air strikes and launched ground operations in Lebanon, pummeling Hezbollah’s leadership and weapons stockpiles.
Molloy now faces a slew of charges, both for providing “material support” for a terrorist organization and lying to the FBI about it, which happened when agents questioned him at the Pittsburgh International Airport in October 2024. If convicted, he could serve up to 28 years in prison.
US federal law enforcement officials have been actively investigating and securing convictions against antisemitic extremists.
In one such case resolved last month, a Jordanian expatriate, Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, who was federally charged in August for attacking an energy facility and threatening to bomb businesses that he deemed supportive of Israel, pleaded guilty to his crimes, which included vandalizing small businesses in Orange County, Florida, and leaving “Warning Letters” addressed to the US government in which he vowed to “destroy or explode everything here in America. Especially the companies and factories that support the racist state of Israel.”
Later, he breached an energy facility in Wedgefield, Florida, where he “smashed” scores of solar panels and damaged other “electronic equipment.” The spree of infrastructure sabotage lasted “for hours,” the Justice Department added, destroying $700,000 worth of technology. In early July, Hnaihen left a final warning letter at an industrial propane gas distribution depot located in the city of Orlando., according to federal prosecutors. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department arrested him on July 11.
On Dec. 20, Hnaihen conceded to the federal government its case against him, pleading guilty to “four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility.” His plea also contained a promise to “make full restitution” to his victims, a debt he will likely repay by working a job in prison, where he stands to spend as many as 60 years.
Additionally, in October, federal prosecutors helped convict a gunman who shot two Jewish men as they exited a synagogue in Los Angeles.
Jaime Tran, 30 — an affiliate of the “Goyim Defense League” hate group — had attempted to murder two Jewish men in the Pico-Robertson section of Los Angeles in February 2023. Prior to the crimes, Tran called Jews “primitive” and told a former classmate, “Someone is going to kill you, Jew” and “I want you dead, Jew.” According to the Justice Department, he even described himself as a “ticking time bomb,” broadcasting his murderous ideation to all who knew him.
After declining to fight the federal government’s case against him, Tran pled guilty in June to four charges the department described as “hate crimes with intent to kill” and “using, carrying, and discharging a firearm” in the commission of an act of violence. His sentencing of 35 years ensures that he will not again be free until the year 2059.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Join Hezbollah and Kill Jews’: Pennsylvania Man Indicted on Terrorism Charges first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Biden Discussed Striking Iran Nuclear Facilities if Tehran Dashes for Bomb: Report
US President Joe Biden addresses rising levels of antisemitism, during a speech at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Annual Days of Remembrance ceremony, at the US Capitol building in Washington, DC, US, May 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US President Joe Biden recently discussed plans for a potential strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities prior to his Jan. 20 departure from office if the Iranian regime makes substantial progress toward a nuclear weapon, according to a new report.
In a meeting “several weeks ago,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan presented Biden with a variety of options to decimate Iran’s capabilities to generate nuclear weapons, Axios revealed on Thursday.
Biden was not presented with new information during the secret meeting, which was reportedly conducted for the purpose of “prudent scenario planning” on how the US should respond to Iran ramping up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
No decisions were made during the meeting, and there are currently no active discussions inside the White House about possible military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Axios reported.
Some members of Biden’s team have argued that the combination of Iran’s increased nuclear activity and its weakened military state due to Israel’s war against its terrorist proxies has given Washington an opportunity to strike the regime.
In the year following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, the Israeli military has decimated key pieces of Iran’s proxy network in the Middle East — most notably Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel also set back Iran’s ballistic missile production and extensively damaged its air defense system with an October strike against Iranian military targets.
The Israeli military campaign has, according to experts, left Iran particularly vulnerable at home and hindered the regime’s ability to project power across the Middle East.
However, many observers fear that Iran may opt to break out toward a nuclear weapon in order to bolster its deterrence. Sullivan expressed that concern last month.
“If you’re Iran right now and you’re looking around at the fact that your conventional capability has been reduced, your proxies have been reduced, your main client state has been eliminated, [Syrian leader Bashar al] Assad has fallen, it’s no wonder there are voices saying: ‘Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now,’” he told CNN.
Some experts have argued such statements indicate more of a willingness by the US to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities preemptively than ever before.
“By saying this, the current administration, which has previously been reluctant to attack Iran, is signaling concern and suggesting that the US might have to act,” Professor Jonathan Rynhold, head of the Department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University, told The Media Line. “There is more willingness now in the US to act preemptively.”
It is unclear whether Biden’s team has discussed the prospect of striking Iranian nuclear sites with the incoming Trump administration, which is expected to adopt a tougher overall posture toward Iran.
Iran has claimed that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes rather than building weapons. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, reported earlier last month that Iran had greatly accelerated uranium enrichment to close to weapons grade at its Fordow site dug into a mountain.
The UK, France, and Germany said in a recent statement that there is no “credible civilian justification” for Iran’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
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