Steven Spielberg denounces antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate

Steven Spielberg has denounced the rise of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate in a new speech, warning that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.

The Jaws director spoke during an award ceremony celebrating 30 years of the University of Southern California’s Shoah Foundation, which he founded in 1994 after making his Holocaust film Schindler’s List. The Foundation received the USC Medallion, its highest honour.

“We can rage against the heinous acts committed by the terrorists of October 7 and also decry the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza,” Spielberg said, according to The Wrap.

“This makes us a unique force for good in the world. And here’s why we are here today to celebrate the work of the Shoah Foundation, which is more crucial now than it even was in 1994.”

Spielberg almost quit making movies after what he called “the trauma of telling the story [of Schindler’s List] and forming the Shoah Foundation”.

In his speech on Monday (25 March), he singled out young students experiencing prejudice on college campuses adding: “50 per cent of students say they have experienced some discrimination because they are Jewish. This is also happening alongside anti-Muslim, Arab and Sikh discrimination.”

The Jurassic Park filmmaker added: “I’m increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history... once again to fight for the very right to be Jewish. Stopping the rise of antisemitism and hate of any kind is critical to the health of our democratic republic and the future of democracy all over the civilised world.”

The Shoah Foundation preserves the stories of Holocaust survivors and witnesses. The Holocaust is also referred to as Shoah in Hebrew – meaning the genocide of the Jewish people.

The project focuses on recording the testimonials of Jewish people in audio-visual interviews, allowing them to be made accessible for research, education, and outreach for the betterment of humankind in perpetuity.

The project has collected over 56,000 testimonies so far.

Last year, on Stephen Colbert’s US talk show, Spielberg shared his concerns about the rise in antisemitism in the US.

“I find it very, very surprising,” he said. “Antisemitism has always been there, it’s either been just around the corner and slightly out of sight but always lurking, or it has been much more overt like in Germany in the Thirties.”