JVP’s pro-Toronto Declaration letter–which has been signed by Eve Ensler, Naomi Klein, David Byrne, Howard Zinn, and blacklisted Walter Bernstein– collected over 2,000 signatures in its first hour. Amazing. The world’s changing.
Jane Fonda also signed the letter, and now is wiggling just a little on Huffpo. Mostly defensive post, but:
As I said in my recent blog, the greatest "re-branding" of Israel would be to celebrate that country’s long standing, courageous and robust peace movement by helping to end the blockade of Gaza through negotiations with all parties to the conflict, and by stopping the expansion of West Bank settlements. That’s the way to show Israel’s commitment to peace, not a PR campaign. There will be no two-state solution unless this happens. The Israeli-Palestinian story cannot be reduced to a simplistic aggressor-victim relationship. In order to fully understand this, one must be willing to come together with an open heart and really hear the narratives of both sides.
Fonda has an equivocal history on antiwar stuff. The Hanoi Jane moment scarred her; and in 1982 she actually cheerled the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Ugh. Interesting to read the first comment at that link, about the time that Vanessa Redgrave [pictured] called out "Zionist hoodlums" for seeking to intimidate her on pro-Palestinian statements. That moment seems to be over now, or anyway there’s pushback.
Here’s part of Fonda’s blog, by the way.
I have been to Israel many times. The first was in the early 1980s and it was love at first sight…for the country and for its people. I stayed in a Kibbutz with the great Israeli novelist, Amos Oz, and his family. I raised money for a senior center in Haifa, for a girl’s shelter in Jerusalem. I have spoken at the Hebrew University. I traveled into Lebanon with the Israeli army in 1981.
It includes some pro-Palestinian stuff, too.
Who’s the better actress?
Anyway fyi, here’s an interview with Vanessa–you decide who’s been more gullible over the years, Jane or Vanessa.
Vanessa by light years. Jane does not even come close. Meryl is a contender
I agree with all you say here, Kathleen.
The comments at Huffpo are telling. They used to be dominated by pro-Israel propaganda. Now the Hasbara agents can’t keep up.
The tide is turning.
Very good point Dan. I noticed some time back that the comments section in Huff Po are at odds with the Zionist voices that they choose to post. I see that Kathleen keeps on reposting Raimondo’s essay on their propensity to feature Zionists. But at the same time the comments to those pieces tell a different story — namely Huff Po’s customers disagree.
I do believe that if they (HP) wishes to keep its customer base they will have to provide more coverage to the Palestinian perspective.
Have posted that twice. maybe Huff po is opening up a bit.
Agree the tide turned over at Huff Po
It’s nice to see that. I’d like to think it’s backlash to the blatant pro-Israel slant the comment moderation has taken recently. It was pretty frighteningly obvious.
Youtube has got the ‘Zionist hoodlums’ speech here:
link to youtube.com
Paddy Chayefsky..brow beat Redgrave for using the Oscars as a means to “propogate her own political propoganda”
How absurd his statement was. Hypocrisy
Paddy somehow forgot to mention how producers and directors in Hollywood had been “promoting their own propaganda out of Hollywood since it’s inception. They just happened to have more power , pull and $$$$$ than Redgrave. promote her
Thanks Gellian. Here’s the same clip but with Paddy Chayefsky’s “context”–
link to youtube.com
Remember that the role she was accepting the award for was that of a Jewish fighter against Fascism in a film written and directed by Jews. So what was her crime? She had contributed to a film called “The Palestinians” which called for a Palestinian homeland.
Gives you some insight into tribal priorities. (Background here.)
“Wiggling” is not how I’d put it. She’s backpedaling. Now she claims to want only “both” narratives to be heard. Yeah, it’s a beautiful symphony, let’s rejoice.
I don’t care what Ms. Fonda thinks–why is this site keeping her relevant? Stick a fork in tomahawk-chopping-born-again -Barbarella…she’s DONE.
I bet she did not write her own backpedal piece.
“…so we are not thought of purely in the context of war.” ” There is no war going on, it is a massacre. It is a genocidal process, it is an almost fully blow fascist storm-front.
It is a one-sided war, with the victims defenseless. But the acts of Israel against Gaza are manifestly acts of war.
The recipe for another war.
Jane has the approach that will avoid that.
She looks old, no?
Her approach in her backpedal piece avoided facts necessary to acknowledge for
any peace.
Well…she is old…lol
Vanessa Redgrave was one of the first people in the states that I heard talk about this issue out loud. Her speech at the Oscars was really rather mild…but she went where no one else had.
What Vanessa said
“During the ceremony, Vanessa Redgrave won the Best Supporting Actress award for Julia, and, aware of members of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) protesting outside,[clarification needed] made the following comments:
“ My dear colleagues, I thank you very much for this tribute to my work. I think that Jane Fonda, and I have done the best work of our lives and I think this is in part due to our director, Fred Zinnemann. [Audience applause.]
And I also think it’s in part because we believed and we believe in what we were expressing–two out of millions who gave their lives and were prepared to sacrifice everything in the fight against fascist and racist Nazi Germany.
And I salute you, and I pay tribute to you, and I think you should be very proud that in the last few weeks you’ve stood firm, and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums [gasps from the audience, followed by a smattering of boos and clapping] whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression. [General applause]
And I salute that record and I salute all of you for having stood firm and dealt a final blow against that period when Nixon and McCarthy launched a worldwide witch-hunt against those who tried to express in their lives and their work the truth that they believe in [some boos and hissing]. I salute you and I thank you and I pledge to you that I will continue to fight against anti-Semitism and fascism.
”
Two hours later,[2] when it came his turn to announce an award winner (for Best Writing), Paddy Chayefsky, perturbed by what he perceived as “cracks about Jews”[2] at the Academy Awards, replied:
“ Before I get on to the writing awards, there’s a little matter I’d like to tidy up–at least if I expect to live with myself tomorrow morning. I would like to say, personal opinion, of course, that I’m sick and tired of people exploiting the Academy Awards [loud applause] for the propagation of their own personal propaganda.
I would like to suggest to Miss Redgrave that her winning an Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation and a simple ‘thank you’ would have sufficed. [Loud applause.]“
Actors and actresses are not selected for their analytical powers, the good ones have learned how to please audiences. It is all a matter of the current audience. I can’t criticize her for saying one thing at TIFF and another at Huffington Post — two different audiences to please.
With respect to her war cries supporting Israeli invasion of Lebanon this needs to be placed in perspective. She was then married to Tom Hayden who represented Santa Monica in the CA assembly. They were both in warrior mode then. Tom subsequently apologized for his statements. He explained that he was elected after promising local Jewish backers that he would support Israel. At that time it meant supporting the invasion of Lebanon. That this war ended up in the massacres at the Shatila and Sabra Palestinian refugee camps was very disconcerting for them. But that is the price that must be paid for LA politicians to gain political office.
link to original.antiwar.com
The Huffington Post: Israeli-Occupied Territory
by Justin Raimondo, January 03, 2009
Email This | Print This | Share This | Comment | Antiwar Forum
Pat Buchanan was widely vilified by the neocons and the politically correct left when he famously described the Congress of the United States as “Israeli-occupied territory.” Oh, what a conniption the liberals and the Commentary crowd had! That was during the countdown to the first Gulf War, when almost no one rose to object – and those who did, like Pat, were smeared for their trouble. Today, such an observation is hardly considered controversial: it is simply a known fact.
There is more discussion in the Knesset over the pros and cons of US intervention in the Middle East on Israel’s behalf than there is in on Capitol Hill. There’s a sense in which this sort of uniformity must be a little embarrassing for the Lobby, in that it underscores their fear that a real debate will suddenly break out. The regularity with which the American Congress endorses every fresh Israeli atrocity has a certain deadening metronomic quality about it – and, while we’re on the subject of monotony, the American media, too, plays an identical role as advocate and staunch defender of the Israeli case, as a matter of course. The “mainstream” televised and dead-tree-media has historically been a reliable “reporter” of the merits of the Israeli case. Now, the wannabe “alternative” online media is following suit, with an alacrity that is none too surprising.
Actually it’s the price that must be paid for USA politicians generally to gain or maintain political office.
Who is Jane afraid of?
Too bad she is backing off her stance. Pathetic really
That’s why I wish they wouldn’t lead with her. Leave her name out – lead with Viggo Mortensen or Danny Glover or any of the other prominent names that signed. I think it’s intentional that she’s always the first name given. She’s so easily caricatured, and I doubt much of the public at large takes her seriously.
Naomi Klein can really take the heat. She is so brilliant and clear. She can turn their twisted words and false claims around on the folks who play the anti-semite or self hating Jew card and knock them over with her reason and brilliance. She should be the spokesperson for the group of folks who signed the petition….
I keep wondering what did the Jewish Defense League say to Vanessa Redgrave or threaten her with?
I had no idea that the F.B.I identified the JDL as a terroist organization
link to en.wikipedia.org
In its report, Terrorism 2000/2001, the FBI referred to the JDL as a “violent extremist Jewish organization” and stated that the FBI was responsible for thwarting at least one of its terrorist acts.[40] The National Consortium for the Study of Terror and Responses to Terrorism states that, during the JDL’s first two decades of activity, it was an “active terrorist organization.”[2] The JDL was specifically referenced by the FBI’s Executive Assistant Director Counterterrorism/Counterintelligence, John S. Pistole, in his formal report before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States.[2]
Paddy Chafensky
link to en.wikipedia.org
Toronto film fest calls Israeli PR strategy into question
By Ben Harris · September 15, 2009
NEW YORK (JTA) — When Amir Gissin helped come up with an idea to remake Israel’s international image several years ago, it’s unlikely he imagined that the showcasing of Israeli films in Toronto would spark a star-studded Hollywood brouhaha over artistic expression and cultural boycotts.
But that’s what happened as Israel became the major flashpoint at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
In an interview last year with the Canadian Jews News, Gissin boasted that his new marketing idea, known as Brand Israel, would help reshape public perceptions of the Jewish state and culminate in a major presence at the 2009 festival.
The presence turned out to be the focus on Tel Aviv as part of the festival’s new City to City program, which included an appearance by the city’s mayor and VIP receptions in addition to the screening of 10 Israeli films.
“The way to fix negative images of Israel is to present Israel in a positive light elsewhere,” Gissin told the paper.
But the effort appears to have backfired as a string of celebrities, including Jane Fonda, Danny Glover, Viggo Mortensen and Harry Belafonte, signed on to the so-called Toronto Declaration claiming that the Tel Aviv spotlight is merely an attempt by the Israeli government to divert attention from its treatment of the Palestinians.
More here: link to jta.org
Brand Israel or Lambast Israel?
They should list Viggo Mortensen and Danny Glover first. Jane Fonda comes with too much baggage to be taken credibly by the public at large. She’s easily caricatured, while Glover and Mortensen and many others are not.
Last week, Rabbi Shlomo Schwartz, director of the Chai Center in Los Angeles, explained to me the meaning of the Hebrew word “teshuva”– to fix things you have done incorrectly, not just by never doing them again but by “coming with a sincere heart. Words that come from the heart enter the heart.”
Perhaps the good Rabbi could explain this word to members of the Israeli administration and the IDF. It might help them to move beyond their unconstructive denials and accusations of anti-Semitism.
good idea…encourage folks to walk the talk