Hannah Einbinder on Pro-Palestine Emmy Acceptance Speech: ‘It’s My Obligation to Distinguish Jews from the State of Israel’

The "Hacks" star defended her decision to sign a controversial pledge calling for a boycott of Israeli filmmaking institutions that she sees as "complicit in genocide."

When Hannah Einbinder won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, the “Hacks” star ended her speech with a nod to the Philadelphia Eagles and a political rallying cry: “I just want to say Go Birds, fuck ICE, and free Palestine.”

Appearing in the winners room alongside her “Hacks” co-star Jean Smart (who picked up a fourth win for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series tonight), Einbinder elaborated on her comments.

“I thought it was important to talk about Palestine,” Einbinder said when asked about her support for Palestine and her opposition to Israel’s ongoing response to the October 7th attacks. “It’s an issue that’s very dear to my heart. I have friends in Gaza who are working as frontline workers, as doctors now in the north of Gaza to provide care for pregnant women and to create schools in refugee camps.”

Einbinder was one of over 4,000 actors and filmmakers who signed a petition organized by Film Workers for Palestine calling on Hollywood to boycott Israeli film companies that they believe are “complicit in genocide.” (The petition does not explicitly call for the boycott of all Israeli companies, but lists “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid and/or partnering with the government committing them” as boycott-worthy behavior.) When asked about the pledge, Einbinder explained that she does not see support for Israel as a necessary condition of her Jewish faith and sees a potential Hollywood boycott as an effective means of protesting the war in Gaza.

“I feel like it is my obligation, as a Jewish person, to distinguish Jews from the state of Israel. Because our religion and our culture is such an important and longstanding… basically an institution that is separate from this ethno-nationalist state,” she said. “And in terms of the pledge, it’s like many movements. Boycotting is an effective tool to create pressure on the powers that be to meet the moment. So the Film Workers for Palestine boycott does not boycott individuals. It only boycotts institutions that are directly complicit in the genocide. So yeah, it’s important to me and I think it’s an important measure. And so I was happy to be a part of it.”

It wasn’t the only time that Einbinder made news on Emmy night, as she also seemingly revealed on the red carpet that the hit HBO Max show will be ending with the upcoming Season 5.