Zimmer deletes Instagram post in support of Palestine

WEB DESK: Hans Zimmer, a German film score composer, took to Instagram on Wednesday to show his support for the Palestinian people.

The post references the controversy surrounding rap group Bob Vylan, who at this year’s Glastonbury festival in the United Kingdom led chants of “Death to the IDF”, in an attempt to show the difference in attention being given to the controversy and the genocide in Palestine.

Referencing mass starvation, the intentional shooting of civilians, and the speculation of food poisoning using opioids, Zimmer paints a stark picture of the Palestinian plight. However, the post was later deleted from Zimmer’s Instagram, with no explanation provided.

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The Jewish composer, whose music was played by the International Symphony Orchestra in a series of shows held in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Beersheba earlier this year, has previously raised $1.2 million for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 2014. At that event, Zimmer was bestowed a lifetime achievement award.

The film industry has been criticised for its silence on the genocide in Gaza, at times by actors and filmmakers themselves. Earlier this year, Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Riz Ahmed, and director Guillermo del Toro became the latest to add their names to a letter condemning that silence, which has been signed by over 370 people within the industry.

Notably, last year’s No Other Land, a documentary showcasing the destruction of the Masafer Yatta community on the West Bank by Israeli soliders, won the academy award for best documentary feature. Another documentary, Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, which depicts life in Gaza in the midst of Israel’s genocide through converstaions between director Sepideh Farsi and Gaza photojournalist Fatima Hassona, was shown at the Cannes film festival earlier this year. The day after its selection was announced, Hassona was killed by an Israeli airstrike.

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