‘Because Jews’: Author Michael Seitzman on Hollywood’s Divide Over Israel-Hamas War and Why He Refuses to Shut Up – Gas Column

Editor’s note: Michael Seitzman is an accomplished film and television writer and showrunner. He created the series Code Black And intelligence and wrote the film starring Charlize Theron Northland. In a guest column titled “Because Jews,” he shares his passionate perspective on the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and its resonance in Hollywood.

I have been working in Hollywood for almost three decades. Everyone here has rules for the stories they tell. A big question for me is: Don’t ask what to tell the public, ask what you can achieve by not telling the public. It’s part of a process we like to call Information management. Allow me to illustrate this.

Last week, a letter circulated in Hollywood demanding that organizations like the Writers Guild of America not “give in to pressure campaigns to force them to join Israel as it lays siege to Gaza.” The letter understandably mentions the unbearable tragedy of Wadea Al-Fayoume, the six-year-old Palestinian-American boy who was killed by his family’s landlord. But despite the outrage over the deaths of civilians, the brief 458-word letter did not contain a single mention of the rape, torture, murder and abduction of Jewish civilians, including children. Including babies. Information management.

Why leave it out, you ask? Occam’s Razor, another general rule of thumb—and a problem-solving principle that the simplest answer is usually the right one—can be helpful here. Because Jews.

If the authors of the letter had reminded people how it all began, they might not be so quick to sign the letter. The letter, published in the form of a Google document, claims to oppose what it describes as “genocide.” Who wouldn’t want to resist genocide? Curiously, the letter was signed only with initials and not full names, which, according to the letter, was out of “fear of being doxxed or blacklisted.” In my opinion, if it is really about genocide, you should have the courage to sign your full name.

It is only courage if it involves personal risk. Otherwise, it is by definition cowardice. Another narrative line.

To be clear: genocide is the intentional killing or destruction of an entire group of people. Many people throw this word around when discussing Israel’s response to the October 7 attack. The information they usually leave out is that Israel has never called for the death of Palestinians. In fact, it is Hamas that explicitly calls for the murder of all Israelis and all Jews worldwide. The actual definition of genocide reflects the words in Hamas’ own charter. You may be wondering why the powerful and very specific word “genocide” is only used for Israel and its response to the mass murder perpetrated by Hamas, but not for the mass murder itself, even though Hamas has the express intention of literally committing genocide . . Occam’s razor again. Because Jews.

In another corner of Hollywood, there was a public demand for a truce from people who actually had the courage to put their name to it. Jon Stewart, one of my personal heroes, signed it. Other names on it include Cate Blanchett, Mahershala Ali, James Schamus, Oscar Isaac, Mark Ruffalo and Ryan Coogler, all people I have a lot of respect for. It forced me to stop and think. These are sensible people who want peace. I want peace.

Let me do the math: First, like most of you, I cannot stand the suffering and death of innocent people; Second, I hate everything Netanyahu stands for; Thirdly, I fear that the conflict will escalate into something that no one has control over; Fourth: I have a hard time imagining how this will all turn out. Given all this, shouldn’t I call a truce? Oh dear. Natural.

Then I think: What would happen if Israel suddenly responded to all these calls to end the conflict? Think about that for a moment. What are they doing at this moment? Negotiating the release of the hostages? Okay, sure. But negotiations with… Hamas?

Let’s imagine that Hamas actually wants to negotiate. And let’s assume they agree that they will return the hostages safely and that they agree to stop the rape, torture and murder of the Children of Israel. Can anyone seriously expect Israel to believe anything promised by those who would commit such depraved acts, some of whom even called their own families to brag about how many Jews they killed that day? Why should Israel be held to this impossible standard of trust when all trust has been broken? Because Jews.

It is easy to call for a truce. Again, you just need to manage the information. The bombs falling on Gaza are terrible. I agree with everyone who calls on Israel to reduce civilian casualties, and in many ways the country is failing miserably. Hospitals should not be forced to evacuate when they can barely treat the injured, children should not be deprived of food, water and electricity, and attacks on innocent people are unacceptable regardless of what religion they practice or which side of the border they live on . stay alive As the son of a missing Israeli citizen said last week: “You can’t heal dead babies with more dead babies.” This is all true and I believe it with all my heart.

A government, on the other hand, must protect its citizens. How can the Israeli government achieve this after October 7 without doing everything in its power to root out and destroy the terrorists who could commit such unthinkable acts of violence? If they fail to neutralize Hamas, how can any single Israeli citizen ever feel any semblance of security again?

Many people talk about the number of rockets and bombs that have been fired at Gaza, but they never seem to count the rockets fired by Hamas at Israel. Again information management. In case you’re wondering, Hamas fired over 7,000 rockets in the first two weeks of this war, mostly aimed at civilian targets, but I don’t see many people signing letters demanding that Hamas stop. Why? Because of the iron dome? Perhaps. But perhaps the real reason lies much deeper. Because Jews.

Why do so many people demand peace from one person and not from another, why do they call the Israelis guilty of genocide but not the actions of Hamas, which literally calls for genocide? Why have so many chosen to glorify, associate and even romanticize those who have committed such deranged acts of violence against ordinary citizens, children and the elderly? Because Jews.

The authors of the Google Doc I mentioned also call themselves storytellers and say, “The stories we create matter.” Here is another rule of storytelling. Character is defined by the choices a character makes. Preferably when everything is on the line. True in storytelling, true in life. Yes, the stories you create matter. The language you use has consequences.

I thought about writing this. I understand that there are people who are very angry and when they read this they direct their anger at me. Maybe I should keep calm. Silence can be the loudest statement of all, right? The problem is that silence only helps those who do evil. It never helps the victims of evil. Silence is complicity.

That’s why I refuse to be silent. Because the truth. Because humanity. And yes, because Jews.