Hollywood stars snub Israel offer
DiCaprio among those who did not make trip
AYEAR ago, Israel offered Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and other Hollywood stars all-expenses paid luxury trips, but it seems they have chosen to miss their cues. Campaigners are claiming victory as it appears none of the 26 Oscars stars offered a free personalised tour valued at up to $55 000 (R720 000) has visited.
The offer, part of gift bags given out by a marketing firm around the time of the 2016 Oscars each worth an estimated $200 000 (R2.6-million) and including other items such as ultra-expensive toilet paper, sparked a backlash.
Campaign groups accused Israel of trying to use the celebrities to gain positive coverage and downplay alleged abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories.
A few days ahead of the 2017 ceremony on Sunday, it appears none of the nominees has visited themselves.
Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence did take up the offer but gave it to her parents, said the agency that came up with the idea.
“This is a success,” said Yousef Munayyer of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, which ran the campaign against the visits along with US organisation Jewish Voice for Peace.
“I think it is clear the objective of using the actors to whitewash Israel has failed.”
Given several days notice, Israel’s tourism ministry declined to comment or confirm which celebrities had taken up the offer.
Israeli officials said they were seeking to show the real Israel at a time of conflict.
But US-based campaigners placed adverts in the Los Angeles Times and urged the actors to #skipthetrip on social media.
Jewish Voice for Peace spokeswoman Granate Sosnoff said it was part of a wider cultural boycott.
“[Our campaign] brought tension, interrupted the normalcy of brand Israel and reminded Hollywood elites that there’s a social cost of being associated with military occupation,” she said.
A researcher on US-Israel relations, Dan Rothem, said Israel wanted to use celebrities “as a way to break the impression there is some sort of isolation or boycott”.
Musicians performing in Israel are often put under pressure to boycott from activists, with Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters a major campaigner against such trips.
But in recent weeks, a number of global bands, including Radiohead, have announced gigs in the country, leading left-wing newspaper Haaretz to ponder if boycott moves are failing.
Last week controversy erupted over American footballers visiting Israel.
Chuck Norris visited Israel this month and met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Rothem said right-winger Norris’s visit would not break the “right-left divide”, but more traditionally left-wing Hollywood could help reverse a negative trend for Israel. — AFP