The New Direction Of Vanessa Redgrave

British Actress Is Still Trying To Change The World

(CBS)  On the day she was born, her father, renowned actor Michael Redgrave, was appearing on stage in Shakespeare's "Hamlet." During the curtain call, the show's lead, Laurence Olivier proclaimed "tonight a great actress has been born."

Well, Vanessa Redgrave has certainly lived up to that great expectation. She has won many awards, including two Emmys, a Tony and an Oscar. But when 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace first profiled her in 1979, she was just as famous, or infamous, for her politics. Her vocal anti-Zionism and fervent support of the Palestinian cause nearly wrecked her career. That was almost 30 years ago.

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Redgrave is 70 years old now and she seems busier than ever. She is starring on Broadway in a one-woman play called "The Year of Magical Thinking."

It is the story of how author-turned-playwright Joan Didion tried to cope with the unthinkable – the deaths of her grown daughter and her husband.

On opening night, there was a standing ovation for the star and the playwright, a far cry from a different opening nearly 30 years ago.

At a Los Angeles movie theater, in 1978, there was a bombing and protests. The furor was sparked by a documentary called "The Palestinian," a film produced and bankrolled by Vanessa Redgrave.

"Many people were outraged. You remember what your reaction was?" Wallace asks.

"I didn't know why people were outraged to see a film about the Palestinians," she replies.

Perhaps it was a scene where she danced, wielding a Kalashnikov rifle. Fueling the controversy were her frequent, inflammatory remarks in support of the PLO, and her condemnation of Israel and Zionism.

"Zionism is a brutal, racist ideology. And it is a brutal racist regime," Redgrave said.

Comments like that outraged Jewish groups and left a deep impression which, in some circles, dogs her to this day and prompted this exchange:

"When I tell various New Yorkers that I'm gonna be sitting down with you, you would be fascinated by the various reactions. 'You're gonna be sitting down with Vanessa Redgrave.' Or 'That woman who hates Jews?'" Wallace remarks.

"I don't believe anyone said that to you. 'Cause even those who wouldn't agree with my views wouldn't say that of me," she replies.

"Why not?" Wallace asks.

"Because they know it's a million miles from the truth," Redgrave says.

That surely would have been a tough sell back then.

In 1979 she appeared in a different film, "Julia," in which she played an anti-fascist helping Jews escape the Nazi regime. But when she was nominated for an Academy Award, some Jewish groups demanded her nomination be dropped. On Oscar night, there were more protests. But Redgrave won the award and made some controversial remarks.

"At the Academy Awards in 1978 you know what you said. Let me repeat it, if I may. 'You should be very proud that in the last few weeks you stood firm and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums, whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world.'
Remember saying it?" Wallace asks Redgrave.

"Yeah. Do you remember what I added to it, also?" she says.

"Please tell me," Wallace says.

"Well, I said that. And I pledged myself to fight anti-Semitism and fascism for the rest of my life," Redgrave says. "And I think I have."

[alancarl1]

As my Jewish mother would say, a tiger doesn't change its stripes. Fortunately, Mom was often wrong about things, and for all I know Ms. Redgrave may be a true friend of the Jewish people today.

Those Jews who harbor ill-will for Ms. Redgrave's harsh statements made long ago should get over it. We need to bring the world together, not continue tearing it apart. We Jews need to keep vigilant - our history requires it. But clearly Ms. Redgrave is no threat to the security of world Jewry. And if she thought about it, I think even even Mom would agree.

[altalker1]

Anti-Zionism singles out the national feelings and movement of the Jews and considers Israel -and only Israel- an illegitimate state. It proposes actions, which would bring death to millions of Jews. Although from a strictly theoretical point of view you could be anti-Zionistic and not anti-Semite, in the real world the two come together.
In a propaganda film of the late 1970%u2019s, the radical Vanessa Redgrave performed a sensuous dance with a PLO machine gun. Whenever the film attacks Jews and Judaism, although the Arabic word Yahud (Jew) is used, the English subtitles read %u201CZionists%u201D. Martin Luther King understood the question very clearly when he declared: %u201CThey criticize Zionists but they mean Jews. You%u2019re talking anti-Semitism.%u201D
The overall attack on Zionism is appalling if we consider that even progressives such as feminists and ecologists were partners of the assault, even when in their areas of interest Israel can show a much better record than the Arab world, which can not exhibit one single democracy throughout its twenty-one states. Jean Paul Sartre reacted to the hypocrisy of considering the Arab world, with its slavery and feudal states as Socialist, and Israel, with its kibbutzim and welfare state as %u201Ca lackey of imperialism.%u201D Israel is one of the few states whose birth was indispensable to save thousands of lives.
Acknowledgement: From lectures given by Dr. Perednik published in http://www.New-Angle.org

[rkhater]

Unlike the Iranian president Ms. Redgrave has never called for the destruction of the state of Israel. Ms.Redgrave worked for the lifting of injustice from the Palestinian people and not for carrying out another injustice on the Israeli people.
Being anti-Zionist is not the same as being anti-jewish. Zionisim is a political movement whose aim is to establish a nation for one race or religion that excludes other groups living in the same land. One can imagine that the Nazi philosophy which called for removing the Jews from Europe can find something in common with the Zionist idea of establishing a homeland for the Jews in Palestine.

[rkhater]

Unlike the Iranian president Ms. Redgrave has never called for the destruction of the state of Israel. Ms.Redgrave worked for the lifting of injustice from the Palestinian people and not for carrying out another injustice on the Israeli people.
Being anti-Zionist is not the same as being anti-jewish. Zionisim is a political movement whose aim is to establish a nation for one race or religion that excludes other groups living in the same land. One can imagine that the Nazi philosophy which called for removing the Jews from Europe can find something in common with the Zionist idea of establishing a homeland for the Jews in Palestine.

[cdfoxtrot]

I hadn't known that Vanessa had taken such a courageous stand on behalf of the Palestinian people. It was a little before my time but it's sad there aren't others following in her footsteps today. Here in America we only get the pro-Israel view on things, and the US news channels are either biased or afraid to offend the pro-Israel crowd. Pity anyone who stands up to the Israelis, such as the British unions who are currently under attack for being so bold as to push for boycotts of Israel.

[altalker1]

Anti-Zionism singles out the national feelings and movement of the Jews and considers Israel -and only Israel- an illegitimate state. It proposes actions, which would bring death to millions of Jews. Although from a strictly theoretical point of view you could be anti-Zionistic and not anti-Semite, in the real world the two come together.
In a propaganda film of the late 1970%u2019s, the radical Vanessa Redgrave performed a sensuous dance with a PLO machine gun. Whenever the film attacks Jews and Judaism, although the Arabic word Yahud (Jew) is used, the English subtitles read %u201CZionists%u201D. Martin Luther King understood the question very clearly when he declared: %u201CThey criticize Zionists but they mean Jews. You%u2019re talking anti-Semitism.%u201D
The overall attack on Zionism is appalling if we consider that even progressives such as feminists and ecologists were partners of the assault, even when in their areas of interest Israel can show a much better record than the Arab world, which can not exhibit one single democracy throughout its twenty-one states. Jean Paul Sartre reacted to the hypocrisy of considering the Arab world, with its slavery and feudal states as Socialist, and Israel, with its kibbutzim and welfare state as %u201Ca lackey of imperialism.%u201D Israel is one of the few states whose birth was indispensable to save thousands of lives.
Acknowledgement: From lectures given by Dr. Perednik published in http://www.New-Angle.org

[imagineit-2009]

Mike Wallace, I honor your dedication as a person to present a great human being, Ms. Redgrave! While her politics and views may differ from many, she does have the right to be outspoken about them.

Ms. Redgrave has shown the world that there are 2 sides to every plight and fight. Even though her causes may be unpopular I feel exceptionally touched that this woman has the courage to be the voice of those who have not been valued in this world.

[mackandal-2009]

I regret that Mike Wallace considers his interview with Vanessa Redgrave one of his finest stories. Mr. Wallace should be ashamed to suggest that the pro-Palestinian stance for which Ms. Redgrave has been known should be equated with anti-Semitism. He should be even more ashamed to compare Ms. Redgrave's stance with that of the extreme position against Israel that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad takes, as Mr. Wallace does in the introduction to Mr. Ahmedinejad's segment, which followed.

While neither side in the Mideast conflict can cloak itself in innocence, to suggest that the issue of violence is something to be addressed only by Palestine is to omit these facts, among many others: that Palestinian land is illegally occupied by the Israelis; that Palestinian homes are bulldozed with heavy equipment sold to the Israelis by U.S. firms; and that Palestinian families, including children and elderly, are as a result displaced and often killed. Shame on Mr. Wallace for shelving CBS's time-honored tradition of news and news analysis, and thus allowing the Israeli government to continue perpetrating
human-rights violations in the shadows.

[mackandal-2009]

I regret that Mike Wallace considers his interview with Vanessa Redgrave one of his finest stories. Mr. Wallace should be ashamed to suggest that the pro-Palestinian stance for which Ms. Redgrave has been known should be equated with anti-Semitism. He should be even more ashamed to compare Ms. Redgrave's stance with that of the extreme position against Israel that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad takes, as Mr. Wallace does in the introduction to Mr. Ahmedinejad's segment, which followed.

While neither side in the Mideast conflict can cloak itself in innocence, to suggest that the issue of violence is something to be addressed only by Palestine is to omit these facts, among many others: that Palestinian land is illegally occupied by the Israelis; that Palestinian homes are bulldozed with heavy equipment sold to the Israelis by U.S. firms; and that Palestinian families, including children and elderly, are as a result displaced and often killed. Shame on Mr. Wallace for shelving CBS's time-honored tradition of news and news analysis, and thus allowing the Israeli government to continue perpetrating
human-rights violations in the shadows.