Celebrities and the Israel/Palestine Conflict
Similar to the international sanctions campaign that led to South Africa lifting apartheid, there is currently an international sanctions campaign aimed at Israel on behalf of Palestinians. Part of this campaign (known as ‘Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions’) is a ‘cultural boycott’ where artists are refusing to perform in Israel until Israel cleans up its act. Supporters of the boycott include Julianne Moore, Cynthia Nixon, Elvis Costello, Johnny Depp, Stephen Sondheim, Santana and Vanessa Redgrave.
This boycott has also taken root internally. In 2010, 60 leading Israeli actors and playwrights sparking controversy when they refused to play in the new theatre in Ariel, one of Israel’s largest settlements. Over 150 UK and US artists, including several listed above, added their name to a letter of support for these Israeli artists.
Other celebs, such as Coldplay, Alan Rickman and Lupe Fiasco have also voiced their support for Palestine (though it’s unclear whether that support extends to the boycott campaign specifically).
Of course, there are a lot of celebs who are pro-Israel. Israel’s most passionate celebrity supporter, I reckon, was Elizabeth Taylor who converted to Judaism some time around her 3rd/4thish husbands. Not only did she give enourmous amounts of money to Israeli charities, invest in Israeli bonds when they needed the cash and do her own one woman boycott for Israel (she cancelled a trip to the Soviet Union on hearing their anti-Israel stance). In 1976 she offered herself up as a replacement hostage for the Jewish hostages being held in Entebbe! Such chutzpah.
Let My People Go. .. wait, what?
In 2009, there was a clash of pro-Israel celebs and pro-Palestine celebs. The clash was over the decision of the Toronto International Film Festival to spotlight Tel Aviv. More than 1000 prominent filmmakers, actors and academics including Jane Fonda*, Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte, and Viggo Mortenson signed on to a statement asserting that by showcasing movies from Tel Aviv, the festival “whether intentionally or not, has become complicit in the Israeli propaganda machine.”
In response, the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles put together a counter statement criticizing the protest and defending the film festival’s focus on Tel Aviv. The pro-Israel statement was signed by Jerry Seinfeld, Natalie Portman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Lisa Kudrow, Jason Alexander and Lenny Kravitz amongst others.
The Israeli cultural boycott is still pretty new and is still finding supporters (and detractors). It will be interesting to see what impact it will have and how celebs respond to the boycott call. In 2010, Palestinian support groups called on Elton John to respect the Israeli boycott but Elton pressed on. Elton doesn’t seem much of a fan of boycotts, whether its Israel for its treatment of Palestine, Arizona for its treatment of immigrants, or Rush Limbaugh for its treatment of him.
* Jane Fonda later apologised for signing the statement, though she stood by her reservations over Israel’s intentions in the festival.
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