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Is Natalie Portman’s Israel Protest a Tipping Point?
The Oscar-winning, Israeli-born actress bowed out of a prestigious Israeli awards ceremony in protest of the country’s “atrocities.” And its impact could be significant.
DANA KENNEDY
04.21.18 5:50 AM ET
JERUSALEM — The Wall may really have been wailing last week. How could Oscar-winning, Israeli-born actress Natalie Portman as well as students at one of the most prestigious—and heavily Jewish—colleges in the U.S. hit Israel with a one-two punch on the 70th anniversary of its founding as a state?
First, Barnard College students voted roughly 2-1 Wednesday in favor of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and will ask the university to divest from eight companies that “profit or engage in the State of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.”
Then on Thursday Portman bailed on the $2 million Genesis Prize ceremony—aka the “Jewish Nobel Prize”—where she was to be honored here in June. Her representatives initially said she found “recent events” in Israel to be “distressing.” (At least 34 Palestinian protesters have been killed by Israeli forces on the Gaza-Israel border since Palestinians launched what they call the “Great March of Return” on March 30.)
Pro-BDS activists leapt on Portman’s announcement as proof that the growing number of Hollywood celebrities (a number of them Jewish) speaking out against Israeli policy in Gaza and on the West Bank is reaching a tipping point.
Then Portman issued a statement on Instagram late Friday saying her decision was being “mischaracterized” and the actual reason for her cancellation was that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be at the ceremony.
“I chose not to attend because I did not want to appear to be endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu, who was to be giving a speech at the ceremony,” she said. “By the same token, I am not part of the BDS movement and do not endorse it.”
She continued: “Like many Israelis and Jews around the world, I can be critical of the leadership of Israel without wanting to boycott the entire nation. I treasure my Israeli friends and family, Israeli food, books, art, cinema, and dance. Israel was created exactly 70 years ago as a haven for refugees from the Holocaust. But the mistreatment of those suffering from today’s atrocities is simply not in line with my Jewish values. Because I care about Israel, I must stand up against violence, corruption, inequality, and abuse of power.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/is-natalie-portmans-israel-protest-a-tipping-point?via=newsletter&source=Weekend
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