Actress Susan Sarandon apologized Friday night for claiming that Jewish people are “getting a taste of what it feels like to be Muslim” amid the war with Hamas.
Sarandon’s comments at a pro-Palestine rally in New York on November 17 sparked widespread outrage. Critics said they ignored the centuries of prejudice and anti-Semitism that the Jewish community has suffered.
The 77-year-old Oscar-winning actress was fired by her Hollywood representative, United Talent Agency, which is run by Jewish CEO Jeremy Zimmer. UTA represented Sarandon since 2014.
On Friday, she said her comments last month were “a terrible mistake.”
“This wording was a terrible mistake because it implied that Jews were not victims of persecution until recently, when the opposite is true,” she said.
At a protest on November 17, Susan Sarandon said that frightened Jews in America are “getting a taste” of what it feels like to be Muslim
Sarandon posted her apology on Instagram Friday evening
She said the rally was intended to “highlight the urgent humanitarian crisis in Gaza and call for a ceasefire,” and said she had not planned to speak at the gathering but had been invited to address the crowd.
“To express my concern about the rise in hate crimes, I said that Jewish Americans, as targets of rising anti-Semitic hatred, “are getting a glimpse of what it is like to be a Muslim in this country so often subject to violence .” .”
Sarandon said her words ignored “centuries of oppression and genocide in Europe” as well as recent atrocities such as the Tree of Life Synagogue attack, in which 11 people were murdered in Pittsburgh in October 2018 – the worst attack on the Jewish community in modern US history.
Sarandon added: “I deeply regret that I trivialized this reality and hurt people with this comment.”
“It was my intention to show solidarity in the fight against bigotry of all kinds, and I am sorry that I failed to do so.”
Since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and the reprisals in Gaza that killed 15,000 Palestinians, Sarandon has attended several rallies in New York.
The veteran left-wing activist was filmed chanting “From the river to the sea,” a rallying cry used by pro-Palestinian activists and Hamas alike that many consider an anti-Semitic call for the destruction of Israel.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show star also has posts on
Susan Sarandon was seen at a pro-Palestine rally in New York City last month. Over the weekend, she attended another event where she was seen chanting “from the river to the sea,” which was branded an anti-Semitic phrase calling for the destruction of Israel
Journalist Asra Nomani was among those who criticized Sarandon for her comments.
Nomani shared a photo of herself with her parents and said, “Hello Susan Sarandon, this is my mom, dad and I on the Rail Trail in Morgantown, West by God Virginia.” Let me tell you what it means in America being Muslim.
“My father didn’t have to become a second-class indentured servant for one of the many tyrants of Muslim countries who use immigrants from India, like my family, as vital slaves… my father got a job as an assistant professor of…” Nutrition.
“At first he was rejected for employment, but as a Muslim in America he had a right like everyone else – his right to appeal, and guess what? He won and became a full professor.
‘My mum? “Being Muslim in America meant she could live with the wind in her hair for FREE, just as Masih Alinejad fights for women in the Muslim country of Iran to enjoy the wind.”
She went on to describe how she was able to safely and freely give birth to an illegitimate child in America – something that would have resulted in her death in some Muslim countries.
Asra Nomani, born in India to Muslim parents, responded to Sarandon on Twitter with a list of the freedoms she and her parents enjoy in the United States
Backlash: Anger over Sarandon’s comments is growing
“Where do you think I came from to give birth to my baby in safety and security, without shame?” West by God Virginia in the United States of America – where we have equal rights as Muslim Americans and not as Americans enjoy.
“This is a “taste” of life for a Muslim family in America. Please do not trivialize the experience of Jewish Americans by sanitizing hell for Muslims living in Muslim countries and denigrating America for the life – and freedoms – it offers to Muslims like my family.
“Go live like a Muslim woman in a Muslim country.” “You will return to America and kiss the land beneath your feet,” she said.
Others compared her comments to those of Jane Fonda during the Vietnam War. Fonda was nicknamed “Hanoi Jane” because she repeatedly condemned American military action in Vietnam.
She traveled to the region and posed on an anti-aircraft gun, for which she has since apologized.
Jane Fonda sits on an anti-aircraft gun in Vietnam in 1972. She has since apologized for offending the families of U.S. veterans with the photo and her comments about the war
‘Well well well. The Vietnam War had Hanoi Jane. It looks like Hamas has Gaza Susan. “She should visit,” said one critic.
“Please let actress Susan Sarandon know that she can open a good bottle of wine and celebrate by her private pool – another death of a Jewish grandfather.”
“Hamas, which they proudly support, has just announced that one of the hundreds of innocent Israelis they kidnapped – 86-year-old Aryeh Zalmanovich – has been killed in captivity.”
“Do you like that, Susan?” Does that fill your heart with joy?’ said another.
Since the October 7 attack and the conflict that followed, the United States has seen a sharp rise in both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
The vast majority of public protests in major cities like New York were pro-Palestine, with some participants holding anti-Semitic signs and calling on people to “cleanse the world of Jews.”