When attempting to put The Palestinian on television, Redgrave contacted Joey Adams for some assistance. Adams, who was Jewish, was reportedly so upset that he not only hung up on Redgrave, but told outlets such as The New York Post and The Jewish Week about the phone call.[4][5] Adams alleged that Redgrave said Israel was a "fascist nation and must be dismantled if peace is to come to the Middle East". In a call with the Chicago Sun-Times, Redgrave said those were Yasser Arafat's words and not her's.[6] Alfred Lilienthal, in his book The Zionist Connection, noted that the first part of the quote was her lingo – but the second part of the quote wasn't.[7]
Upon release, the documentary was perceived by some critics as anti-Israeli.[3][8] The Anti-Defamation League's honorary chairman criticized the film, stating that some of the responses of the people she interviews weren't translated from Arabic, that the film showed children training with guns and that the phrase, "Kill the enemy!" kept being repeated.[3] The president of Actors Equity in the United States criticized the film's interview with Arafat, in which he said that the only solution to the Middle East problem is the liquidation of the State of Israel, and Redgrave responded with, "Certainly".[9]
Redgrave won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Julia. Her nomination drew attention and criticism, and the ceremony was picketed by both the Jewish Defense League (JDL) and counter-protesters waving PLO flags.[10][8] In her acceptance speech at the Oscars, Redgrave made a short speech, saying "In the last few weeks you have stood firm and you have refused to be intimidated by the threat of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums, whose behaviour is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world, and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression".[8] Regarding her use of the phrase "Zionist hoodlums", the Daily Telegraph later said, "It's clear now that she was referring to the extremists of the Jewish Defense League who had offered a bounty to have her killed. Academy Award winner Paddy Chayefsky responded later during the ceremony while presenting an award, saying "if I expect to live with myself tomorrow morning" he had to address the ceremony being exploited for politics.[11][12]
Later that year, at 4:26 a.m on 15 June 1978, a bomb exploded in front of the Doheny Plaza theatre in Los Angeles, where the film's scheduled opening later that evening was postponed a day.[9] A member of the Jewish Defense League was later convicted for the bombing, and sentenced to a three-month "thorough psychological examination" with the California Youth Authority.[13]
