The Hollywood Reporter has an item about the “mayor of the Israeli capital” — Jerusalem, presumably — visiting Hollywood to drum up film business. Mayor Nir Barkat is a rightwinger who is close to Sheldon Adelson who has vigorously supported the occupation of Palestinian land.
Nir Barkat, mayor of the Israeli capital, quietly traveled to Los Angeles the week of May 20 to talk up his city’s new entertainment production initiative. In an interview with THR, Barkat says he hopes to capitalize not only on the ancient site’s historical locations, mild climate and a package of modern-day tax incentives, but on Hollywood’s deep strains of support for the Jewish state. Making films and television in Jerusalem is “not only good business, it’s good Zionism,” says Barkat. “It’s the right thing to do.”…
[A]mong those Barkat met with in L.A. was billionaire mogul Haim Saban, who says he already has committed to support the mayor’s initiative. “Jerusalem offers a magical environment for filming,” Saban tells THR. “And I promised the mayor when I met with him that we will be shooting our next live-action series in the City of David.”
You’d think that Haim Saban and Sheldon Adelson might differ. One supports Democrats, the other Republicans. But it’s not a problem. Saban has said that he lives and breathes for Israel. The New Yorker:
His [Saban’s] greatest concern, he says, is to protect Israel, by strengthening the United States-Israel relationship.
The Israel lobby is about money and belief and cultural power. It’s not about Christian fundamentalism or the military industrial complex. At its heart it’s a love affair between Israelis and powerful Diaspora Zionists, on both sides of the supposed aisle.
At the last Oscar Awards, the Transparent Cabal:
Ted: Look at all this talent, all this talent in one spot. There’s Daniel Day-Lewis… there’s Alan Arkin… there’s Joaquin Phoenix. And you know what’s interesting? All those actors I just named are part-Jewish.
Mark Wahlberg: Oh. Ok.
Ted: What about you? You got a ‘berg’ at the end of your name. Are you Jewish?
Wahlberg: Am I Jewish? No, actually, I’m Catholic.
Ted: (whispering) Wrong Answer. Try again.
Wahlberg: What?
Ted: (still whispering) Do you want to work in this town or dontcha? (to audience) That’s interesting, Mark, because I am Jewish.
Wahlberg: No you’re not.
Ted: I am. I am. I was born Theodore Shapiro and I would like to donate money to Israel and continue to work in Hollywood forever. Thank you, I’m Jewish.
Wahlberg: You’re an idiot.
Ted: Yeah, well, we’ll see who the idiot is when they give me a private plane at the next secret synagogue meeting.
It’s funny, when supporters of israel claim that they just want it to be treated like any other country, yet they don’t act like “any other country.” Does anyone believe that when the Mayor of Rome comes to town to promote it as a filming destination, he meets with people like Scorcese and DeNero and says, “we got great ruins and you’ll be helping out your fellow Italians…”?? Not likely.
Well, anyway, any show or production company that films in occupied Palestine doesn’t get my support, nor do the producers and the actors, until such time as they relent. They’re supporting the devil of occupation; people who do business with the devil should pay the price.
Okay! So Zionism has a huge edge over white Gentile racism: it has elite support in the American media, which influences the rest of the Western world.
But this support is at best defensive.
Israel was ranked only above Pakistan, Iran and North Korea in the latest BBC worldwide survey of global reputations.
You’ve covered the downfall of Israel in the public media these last few years. It seems to have subsided thus far, perhaps a lot of quiet diplomacy? But it’s merely a lull.
What happens in academia will eventually reverberate into the real world en masse. The trend for BDS is clear, Israel is no longer the favourite country of America’s young, increasingly multiracial liberal elite.
The support for the country is mostly dominated by older, white conservatives.
This support of Zionism through Hollywood helps prolong the process – but it doesn’t help reverse it.
RE: [A]mong those Barkat met with in L.A. was billionaire mogul Haim Saban, who says he already has committed to support the mayor’s initiative. “Jerusalem offers a magical environment for filming,” Saban tells THR. ~ the Hollywood Reporter
JERUSALEM’S “MAGICAL ENVIRONMENT”: “Women noticeably absent from Jerusalem ads”, By Nir Hasson, Haaretz, 10/21/11
Municipality officials deny change in policy, refer to several campaigns that featured images of women. Yet figures in city’s public relations industry say women have been entirely removed from public billboards and advertisements.
ENTIRE ARTICLE – http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/women-noticeably-absent-from-jerusalem-ads-1.391157
RE: “You’d think that Haim Saban and Sheldon Adelson might differ. One supports Democrats, the other Republicans. . .” ~ Weiss
MY COMMENT: Think again!
SEE: “Haim Saban”, by Matthew Yglesias, The Atlantic, June 10, 2007
SOURCE – http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2007/06/haim-saban/40714/