Vanessa Redgrave, 88-Year-Old Oscar-Winning Actress, Attends Gaza Solidarity Rally

According to CinemaDrame News Agency, British actress and political activist Vanessa Redgrave was seen this week at a Gaza solidarity rally in London. Photos of the 88-year-old actress circulating on social media show her sitting in a wheelchair, banging a ladle on a pot in protest against the famine in Gaza.

The acclaimed star of “Blowup,” who has received honors including the Tony, Olivier, and Venice’s Golden Lion, drew attention at the 1978 Academy Awards when, accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for “Julia,” she criticized what she called “Zionist hoodlums.”

In her memorable acceptance speech, Redgrave said:
“I think that Jane Fonda and I have done the best work of our lives, and I think this is because we have had the privilege of working with a director of such sensitivity and such vision as Fred Zinnemann. And I think it’s also because we believed in what we were expressing—two out of millions who gave their lives and were prepared to sacrifice everything in the fight against fascist and racist Nazi Germany. And I salute you and I pay tribute to you, and I think you should be very proud that in the last few weeks you have stood firm and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums, whose behavior is a disgrace to the name of Jews all over the world and to the great and heroic record of Jews in the struggle against fascism and oppression. I salute that record and I salute all of you for having stood firm and dealt a final blow against that period, when Nixon and McCarthy launched a witch-hunt in the United States against those who tried to express the truth in their work and in their lives. I salute you and I thank you, and I pledge to continue this fight against anti-Semitism and fascism. Thank you.”

Ahead of that year’s Oscars, some extremist groups protested outside the ceremony venue, but according to The Daily Telegraph, Redgrave’s use of “Zionist hoodlums” was a clear reference to a group known as the Jewish Defense League, who had put a bounty on her head. In 1977, Redgrave’s production of the documentary “The Palestinian” had provoked the anger of these groups.