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Actor Ben Kingsley reveals why he stars in so many Holocaust films

(JTA) — From “Schindler’s List” to “The Red Sea Diving Resort,” the non-Jewish, award-winning actor Ben Kingsley has starred in a number of Holocaust and other Jewish-themed movies.
The recurring theme in his career wasn’t an accident, he said in a recent interview. Instead, he said, he picked the roles because his “vigorously antisemitic” grandmother motivated him to want to speak out on the issue of antisemitism.
Talking to Parade magazine earlier this month, Kingsley was asked why he has played so many Jewish characters in film. His British mother is thought to have Jewish ancestry, but “the thread is so fine there’s no real evidence,” he said in a 1994 interview about “Schindler’s List,” in which he plays Oskar Schindler’s helper Itzhak Stern.
He told Parade:
I must answer very candidly, and it’s an answer that disturbs me but it’s the truth. I remember as a schoolboy watching a wonderful television documentary series, which examined World War II. And as a schoolboy, alone in the house, I watched the liberation of Belsen [a Nazi concentration camp] on film. And I do remember as a young adolescent, I think I was maybe 11 or 12—this was way after World War II, of course, it was a retrospective—but I think my heart stopped beating for a little while. I went into deep shock as a child.
The disturbing part of this story is that I remember within the same few days having a conversation with my maternal grandmother, who was inexplicably but quite vigorously antisemitic. So, the two impressions came to me almost simultaneously, and as a child it was very difficult for me, impossible for me to counter my grandmother’s outburst, but I think a seed was planted in me that said to me, “One day I will speak.”
Kingsley, who had an Indian father and won an Oscar for portraying Mahatma Gandhi in the 1982 biopic “Gandhi,” has previously said that his grandmother’s antisemitism stemmed from the fact that a Jewish man abandoned her once she became pregnant.
In an on-screen career dating back to the 1970s, Kingsley has also earned Emmy nominations for playing Otto Frank in a TV miniseries called “Anne Frank: The Whole Story” and for playing Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal in a 1989 TV movie called “Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story.” He played Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky in the acclaimed film “Bugsy” — about the life of Jewish mobster Bugsy Siegel — and an organized crime boss called The Rabbi in the 2006 thriller “Lucky Number Slevin.”
In 2019, he played a Mossad agent in “The Red Sea Diving Resort,” a drama about a 1980s Israeli mission to rescue Ethiopians. He has also played Nazi Adolf Eichmann, in the 2018 drama “Operation Finale.” He said he kept a photo of his real-life friend Elie Wiesel in his pocket while filming that movie.
Before Wiesel’s death in 2016, Kingsley told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he had told the best-selling Holocaust survivor: “The next time I walk onto a film set that is appropriate to your story, I will dedicate my performance to you.”
He said he kept his word: “Every day as promised, I looked at a picture of Elie that I carried in my pocket and said ‘I’m doing this for you,’” he said.
Kingsley’s newest movie, “Jules,” is a sci-fi story about an older man named Milton who befriends an alien who crash-lands in his backyard.
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The post Actor Ben Kingsley reveals why he stars in so many Holocaust films appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Germany’s Scholz Rebukes Vance, Defends Europe’s Stance on Hate Speech and Far Right

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to the media after he met former prisoners following the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West in decades, at the military area of Cologne Bonn Airport in Cologne, Germany, August 1, 2024. Photo: Christoph Reichwein/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz delivered a strong rebuke on Saturday to US Vice President JD Vance’s attack on Europe’s stance toward hate speech and the far right, saying it was not right for others to tell Germany and Europe what to do.
Vance lambasted European leaders on Friday, the first day of the Munich Security Conference, accusing them of censoring free speech and criticizing German mainstream parties’ “firewall” against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
“That is not appropriate, especially not among friends and allies. We firmly reject that,” Scholz told the conference on Saturday, adding there were “good reasons” not to work with the AfD.
The anti-immigration party, currently polling at around 20% ahead of Germany’s February 23 national election, has pariah status among other major German parties in a country with a taboo about ultranationalist politics because of its Nazi past.
“Never again fascism, never again racism, never again aggressive war. That is why an overwhelming majority in our country opposes anyone who glorifies or justifies criminal National Socialism,” Scholz said, referring to the ideology of Adolf Hitler’s 1933-45 Nazi regime.
Vance met on Friday with the leader of AfD, after endorsing the party as a political partner — a stance Berlin dismissed as unwelcome election interference.
Referring more broadly to Vance’s criticism of Europe’s curtailing of hate speech, which he has likened to censorship, Scholz said: “Today’s democracies in Germany and Europe are founded on the historic awareness and realization that democracies can be destroyed by radical anti-democrats.
“And this is why we’ve created institutions that ensure that our democracies can defend themselves against their enemies, and rules that do not restrict or limit our freedom but protect it.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot added his voice to the defense of Europe’s stance on hate speech.
“No one is required to adopt our model but no one can impose theirs on us,” Barrot said on X from Munich. “Freedom of speech is guaranteed in Europe.”
UKRAINE
The prospect of talks to end the Ukraine-Russia war had been expected to dominate the annual Munich conference after a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week, but Vance barely mentioned Russia or Ukraine in his speech to the gathering on Friday.
Instead, he said the threat to Europe that worried him most was not Russia or China but what he called a retreat from fundamental values of protecting free speech – as well as immigration, which he said was “out of control” in Europe.
Many conference delegates watched Vance’s speech in stunned silence. There was little applause as he delivered his remarks.
Asked by the panel moderator if he thought there was anything in Vance’s speech worth reflecting on, Scholz drew laughter and applause in the crowd when he responded, in a deadpan manner: “You mean all these very relevant discussions about Ukraine and security in Europe?”
The post Germany’s Scholz Rebukes Vance, Defends Europe’s Stance on Hate Speech and Far Right first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Team to Start Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks in Saudi Arabia in Coming Days, Politico Reports

US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) speaks on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, July 15, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
Senior officials from US President Donald Trump’s administration will start peace talks with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Saudi Arabia in the coming days, Politico reported on Saturday, citing sources familiar with the plan.
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Saudi Arabia, the report said. Special envoy for Ukraine-Russia talks, Keith Kellogg, will not be in attendance, according to the report.
The post Trump Team to Start Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks in Saudi Arabia in Coming Days, Politico Reports first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UN Peacekeeping Mission Deputy Commander Injured After Convoy Attacked in Beirut

FILE PHOTO: A UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicle is seen next to piled up debris at Beirut’s port, Lebanon October 23, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
The outgoing deputy force commander of the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) in Lebanon was injured on Friday after a convoy taking peacekeepers to Beirut airport was “violently attacked,” UNIFIL said.
The mission demanded a full and immediate investigation by Lebanese authorities and for all perpetrators to be brought to justice, it said in a statement.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned the attack on Saturday, saying that security forces would not tolerate anyone who tries to destabilize the country, according to a statement from his office.
The French government also condemned the attack.
“France calls on the Lebanese security forces to guarantee the security of blue-helmet peacekeeping forces, and calls on Lebanon’s judicial authorities to shed all light on this unacceptable attack and to go after those responsible,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
Lebanon’s Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar called for an emergency meeting before noon on Saturday to discuss the security situation, Lebanese state news agency NNA reported.
“He affirmed the Lebanese government’s rejection of this assault that is considered a crime against UNIFIL forces,” NNA reported, citing the minister.
He also gave instructions to work on identifying the perpetrators and referring them to the relevant judicial authorities.
The minister told reporters on Saturday that more than 25 people had been detained for investigation over the attack.
The United States earlier condemned the attack. A State Department statement said the attack was carried out “reportedly by a group of Hezbollah supporters”, referring to the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon.
The post UN Peacekeeping Mission Deputy Commander Injured After Convoy Attacked in Beirut first appeared on Algemeiner.com.