WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – A prominent American Jewish acting family has criticized the use of anti-Semitism to shut down discussions about the Zionist regime’s policies in Gaza.
Actors Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody also told The New York Times they thought the policies of Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu were threatening the safety of Jewish communities internationally.
“The politics of what he’s doing is the worst thing for Jewish people. It’s like lighting a candle for anybody that has any anti-Semitic feelings,” said Grody. 
“It’s creating a generation of wounded and hurt kids who will understandably be very angry. I feel deeply troubled and horrified by what is happening in my name. So I am very proud of every Jewish person that stands up for the humanity of people in the Middle East.”
Patinkin concurred, referencing a line from the film The Princess Bride, in which he starred.
“’You know, I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it’s over, I do not know what to do with the rest of my life,’” he said.
“And I ask Jews all over the world to consider what this man Benjamin Netanyahu, and his right-wing cabinet, is doing to the Jewish people all over the world.
“They are endangering not only Israel… but endangering the Jewish population all over the world.”
The U.S. entertainment industry has been divided over the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 60,000 people since October 2023.
Some artists, actors and production staff have said that there is a concerted campaign by industry executives to silence solidarity with Palestinians.
Dozens of individuals - from actors and dancers to carpenters, set dressers, animators, composers and screenwriters - recently told Middle East Eye that they had been punished for speaking out against the conflict.
In February, Zionist troops in the occupied West Bank assaulted and detained Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land - an attack that Ballal’s co-director, Basel Adra, suggested may have been “revenge on us for making the movie”.