The Oscars' Obsession with Palestine: A Theatre of the Absurd

The Oscars do not fail to disappoint

I was waiting for it. I didn’t know when. I didn’t know who. But I knew it was coming. It always does. Of course, Javier Bardem takes the stage with Priyanka Chopra Jonas to present the Best International Feature Film. He leans into the microphone with some dramatic effect. His message to the world; “No War, Free Palestine”. The room erupted in applause. Priyanka, takes her subservient role — her message to women, look pretty and smile.

Javier Bardem’s jacket lapel displayed a large red panel reading “No a la guerra“ (No to war), and a circular pin featuring Handala, a cartoon character that is a well-known symbol of Palestinian resistance.

That’s his opening salvo. A global platform, a captive audience of millions, and that’s what he leads with. Another example of Hollywood stupidity. They want to free Marwan Barghouti and they want to provide national independence to an entity that uses and supports terrorism and whose values diametrically oppose their own. As for Mr. Bardem, there is no public record of him ever visiting Israel or what he calls Palestine. I doubt he has any real understanding of the regional dynamics. For him, it’s just another Hollywood script.

Bardem’s Oscar performance is the most cowardly form of political speech available to a human being. You stand on a stage. You have a microphone. No one in that audience — not one person — has the ability to debate you, challenge you, or ask a follow-up question. The people watching at home cannot respond. You drop your politics like a grenade and walk off, and then everyone claps, because what else are they going to do?

And Priyanka Chopra Jonas stood right beside him and offered a slight nod. That’s the co-sign. Complicit through silence and body language on one of the most watched broadcasts of the year.

This is not Mr. Bardem’s first rodeo. The organizers of the Oscars knew exactly what he would say. In the 2025 Emmy Awards, he walked the red carpet wearing a keffiyeh and stated he could not work with anyone who “justifies or supports the genocide”. He’s been outspoken on Gaza for years. The producers knew. The organizers knew. What looks like an unscripted eruption of conscience is, in effect, a produced moment — everyone was salivating for the smug bastard’s words. There would be no friction because no one in that room was ever going to push back. The silence of agreement is deafening.

Here’s what else I noticed: if the goal is social justice, the menu is long. The Jerusalem Post pointed out that one of the nominated films in that very category featured a screenwriter who was arrested in January for supporting the Iranian protest movement — and not one person on that stage thought his story was worth mentioning. Not Bardem. Not Chopra Jonas. Not the director who won.

You could have said something about the tens of thousands of protestors killed by the Iranian regime. You could have acknowledged the victims of October 7th — the massacred, the violated, the hostages. You could have said something about what is right and what is just. Instead, the unconditional support and victimization of terror. You self-indulgent, entitled rich leftist Marxist.

Let’s also be precise about the language, because words matter. “Free Palestine” is not a humanitarian slogan. If it were about freeing Palestinians, we’d be talking about what Hamas did to Gaza for two decades — using its own civilian population as a strategic asset while its leadership lived in Doha. Palestinians have had more than one opportunity to choose a different path. This phrase has never been about liberating a people. It’s about the genocide of Jews. Say what you mean.

To Javier Bardem: I want to say a big FU. You are nothing more than a parrot coward with no skin in the game. What you have to say has nothing to do with the people of Palestine, it’s your hatred for Jews. Simple. Well sir, we’ve been here long before you. We will be here long after you and whatever last night was supposed to be. You stood on a stage built by the very audience whose voices you muted, and you used it to score points with a room that was always going to applaud.

Israel Ellis is a Canadian author and host of The Unfiltered View podcast. He is the author of The Wake Up Call, which examines the October 7 attacks and the rise of global antisemitism.

#oscars #bardem #israelellis