L.A. Times Accepts Ad Denouncing Israel Trip in Oscar Swag Bag
Oscar-nominated celebrities were urged on Wednesday to skip a $55,000 trip to Israel offered as part of an awards gift bag.
Two U.S.-based groups campaigning for an end to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories made the plea in a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times that appeared five days before the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday.
“#SkipTheTrip. Don’t endorse Israeli apartheid,” said the ad, sponsored by the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and Jewish Voice for Peace.
The ad said the trip, which is partially paid for by the Israeli government, was part of a larger “‘Brand Israel’ strategy to distract from almost 50 years of illegal occupation of Palestinian land.”
“As was the case many years ago in South Africa, celebrities are being asked to refrain from whitewashing apartheid policies,” Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The trip is one of the most expensive items in a swag bag handed out to the five Oscar-nominated directors and 20 lead and supporting actor and actress nominees, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Sylvester Stallone, Mark Rylance, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, Matt Damon and Kate Winslet.
The gift bag is not affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Oscars.
The Academy last week filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles-based Distinctive Assets accusing the gifting group of promoting the bag as official Oscars swag.
The Israeli government earlier this month confirmed it was funding $15,000 to $18,000 of each 10-day trip as a means of offsetting news coverage of the country’s troubles.
“These are the most senior people in the film industry in Hollywood and leading opinion-formers who we are interested in hosting,” said Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin. “They will experience the country first-hand and not through the media.”
It was not immediately known whether any of the Oscar-nominated directors, actors and actresses will take up the offer, which must be declared to U.S. tax authorities.
“Creed” supporting actor Stallone signed a pro-Israel petition during the 2104 Gaza war, while “Bridge of Spies” nominee Rylance has signed a petition circulated by Artists for Palestine UK which calls for a cultural boycott of Israel.—Reuters
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
