Spielberg: ‘Israel is our homeland’
FILMMAKER Nancy Spielberg was a huge drawcard for the United Israel Appeal (UIA) women’s division event.
FILMMAKER Nancy Spielberg was a huge drawcard for the United Israel Appeal (UIA) women’s division event, which featured her as a guest speaker alongside Dr Nitza Neuman-Heiman at Paddington Town Hall last week.
The sister of Oscar-winner Steven Spielberg, Nancy is an acclaimed producer in her own right. Her latest film, On The Map, about the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team is screening at Jewish festivals all over the world, and she has a number of other projects in the pipeline. A film based on documents retrieved from the Warsaw Ghetto titled Who Will Write Our History is currently in post-production and a movie based on her documentary Above and Beyond about Israel’s War of Independence is also in the works.
“Israel staying on the map is our collective responsibility,” Spielberg told the audience, encouraging them to support UIA and other Israel-centric communal organisations. “I see the strength and involvement of the women in the Jewish community in Sydney, and if I had grown up with that sort of community, my life might have been a lot different.”
Spielberg explained that while she did not grow up in a practising Jewish household, she and her sister dropped out of university to live on Kibbutz Be’erot Yitzhak, where she “fell in love” with the country.
“The anti-Israel voices scream the loudest, but they’re not screaming the truth and we have to not shy away,” Spielberg urged. “We need to figure out how to battle it properly, and the films and documentaries I’m doing now are a part of that.”
Speaking to The AJN, Spielberg said, “The message that I’m trying to share with the younger generation is to be very proud and be a strong Jew because there are so many voices against us. We shouldn’t shirk or be afraid. We should be there for Israel and support Israel because it is our homeland.”
“Nancy and her family have made such a huge contribution over many years to Israel and the Jewish community,” said UIA NSW CEO Yair Miller said.
Dr Neuman-Heiman spoke about Profession For Life, an Israeli organisation supported by UIA that helps doctors and nurses become accredited and able to work in Israel in as little as 14 months by placing them in absorption centres that provide Hebrew classes, accommodation and childcare for their families and study sessions for their licensing exams.
“It was a privilege for UIA to hear from her and from Dr Neuman-Heiman,” Miller said.
YAEL BRENDER
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