Award-winning Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino was filmed posing with Israeli soldiers at a military base in southern occupied Palestine, sparking outrage online and drawing protests against him during a trip to New York. This incident highlights the disconnect between Hollywood and the general population in the U.S.
World-renowned director Quentin Tarantino, known for films like “Kill Bill,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Django Unchained,” now faces accusations from former fans of endorsing an ongoing genocide. The backlash follows the emergence of videos and photos showing him posing with Israeli soldiers at military facilities.
On October 15, during a tour of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns, Tarantino visited the Naqab (Negev) region to support local Israeli businesses. He was filmed enjoying a “magnificent feast” and praised the “hospitality” of southern Israeli communities. After it was revealed that he was visiting Israeli military bases, Tarantino’s actions received widespread attention. He had participated in an organized tour allegedly designed to “boost the morale” of the Israeli armed forces as they prepared to launch a ground offensive in Gaza.
Tarantino’s affinity for Israel dates back much further than the recent conflict in Gaza that began on October 7. He first officially visited Israel in 2009 to launch the premiere of his movie “Inglourious Basterds,” set in an alternate reality where leading Nazi officials are hunted down. During this visit, he met Daniella Pick, an Israeli model and the daughter of Svika Pick, known as “Israel’s king of pop,” who would later become his wife.
In 2018, Tarantino married Daniella Pick in a Reform Jewish wedding ceremony in the United States. The couple has since had two children, both born at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. For the past five years, they have lived between Tel Aviv and Hollywood, with Tarantino establishing connections throughout the Israeli film industry.
Tarantino’s actions have recently drawn widespread attention after he was confronted by protesters during a dinner in New York. The demonstrators heckled him, accusing him of being a Zionist and supporting a genocidal military campaign. His endorsem*nt of the Israeli military highlights a broader trend within the Hollywood elite of a disconnect from the general population, particularly on moral issues.
#QuentinTarantino was spotted in a restaurant in New York and was called out for his support of the #IsraeliOccupation by a protestor pic.twitter.com/DN6h9X99Gl
— Roya News English (@RoyaNewsEnglish) June 16, 2024
While Quentin Tarantino’s critics have often questioned the use of racist language in his films, typically spoken by white characters against Black people, this has often been dismissed as artistic expression without racial undertones. However, in a 2003 interview with Howard Stern, Tarantino stirred controversy by defending film producer Roman Polanski after allegations emerged that Polanski raped a 13-year-old girl. Tarantino remarked:
He didn’t rape a 13-year-old. It was statutory rape … he had sex with a minor. That’s not rape. To me, when you use the word rape, you’re talking about violent, throwing them down — it’s like one of the most violent crimes in the world. You can’t throw the word rape around. It’s like throwing the word ‘racist’ around. It doesn’t apply to everything people use it for.”
Quentin Tarantino also came under fire for his friendship with serial sexual offender Harvey Weinstein, admitting, “I knew he did a couple of these things.” Weinstein’s connections to Israel are well known; the Hollywood mogul paid $1.3 million to an Israeli intelligence firm, Black Cube, to suppress sexual abuse accusations against him. Harvey Weinstein was allegedly connected to the intelligence firm by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Tarantino operates in a Hollywood environment widely criticized for its anti-Arab and anti-Muslim portrayals, often casting Israelis in a positive light and Palestinians as terrorists. Hollywood has significantly aided the U.S. government in presenting propagandistic portrayals of foreign countries and people of color, largely seen as justifying regime change efforts around the globe.
Feature photo | Quentin Tarantino poses with IDF soldiers in southern Israel on October. 15, 2023. Photo | Twitter
Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47
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