As this is being written, Sean Penn, the famous Hollywood actor, is touring Iraq, mostly hospitals. I wonder -- are there any famous Hollywood actors visiting hospitals in Israel?
Let others quarrel about Sean Penn's wisdom and patriotism -- though I do admire him for saying that he would not speak out against America while overseas. In fact, I have no quarrel at all with mainly liberal performers, except to ask, where is the outcry from Jewish Hollywood about the murdering and maiming of Jewish children? The silence -- if you'll pardon the cliche -- is deafening, as it was in Ben Hecht's day when that legendary journalist tried to raise awareness for the plight of those trapped in Nazi Europe. Strangely, most of his early support came from Gentile performers. Jews were afraid to speak up. Either they didn't care or were afraid to spur (more) anti-Semitism. Today, there is so much anti-Semitism around, there's not much chance of making it worse (okay, that is debatable). This leaves us to conclude that Hollywood -- so quick to defend the widow and the orphan -- does not care.
Yet, I believe Hollywood does care. So if that's the case, why the silence? Why is Sean Penn not in Israel? My guess, as to the reason for this Silence of Hollywood Lambs, is that Israel has lost the public relations war and has allowed itself to be portrayed as Goliath, when in fact Israel is David.
Israel is not a fashionable cause. Israel is not a liberal cause. Some of this is Israel's fault for its failure to get the message out. Much of it, though, is the fault of what I dare refer to as a "media pogrom." This media pogrom extends from Australia, throughout Europe, up to and into our own doorsteps. Just the other day the Philadelphia Inquirer (carrying AP), referred to members of the Palestinian terrorist group Fatah as "activists." So, as this is being written, as Sean Penn visits Baghdad hospitals to bring a smile to Arab children, Israel weeps alone.
You would think that Hollywood would embrace Israel, since Hollywood was founded by Jews. Hollywood is Jewish glory. The studios were founded by Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, Samuel Goldwyn and the like, on to today?s Katzenberg, Geffen, Spielberg. Our cast of characters, past and present, includes such luminaries as John Garfield, Jeff Chandler, June Allison, Natalie Wood, Kirk Douglas, Cary Grant, Paul Newman, Lee Grant, Harrison Ford, Winona Ryder, Billy Crystal, Ellen Barkin, Alan Arkin, Goldie Hawn, Michael Caine.... Yes, yes, I know. Some of these are but partly Jewish and there are questions about Cary Grant, but that is a game we all play in Jewish homes.
What's going on in Israel, however,is no game. Jewish blood is flowing, once again, only this time there is no Ben Hecht to energize an outcry. For all I know, there may be a Sean Penn equal in Israel right now bringing comfort to thousands of Israeli children who managed to survive suicide attacks. If such a performer is out there, I have not heard his name. I have not heard the names of any Hollywood stars -- Jewish or Gentile -- who have bothered to visit Rambam Hospital or Hadassah Hospital to bring a smile to a Jewish child who has lost arms and legs. There are so many of them, children and grown-ups. All victims of these "activists."
I may not agree with Sean Penn's politics, but I like the fact that he is not afraid, not silent, and that he cares about people other than himself.
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Jack Engelhard is the author of the international bestseller Indecent Proposal and is a former radio and newspaper editor covering the Mideast, as well as a former American volunteer in the Israeli Defense Forces. His columns can be read online at http://www.comteqcom.com/jackcolumn.php and he can be reached at JackEngelhard@ComteQcom.com.
Let others quarrel about Sean Penn's wisdom and patriotism -- though I do admire him for saying that he would not speak out against America while overseas. In fact, I have no quarrel at all with mainly liberal performers, except to ask, where is the outcry from Jewish Hollywood about the murdering and maiming of Jewish children? The silence -- if you'll pardon the cliche -- is deafening, as it was in Ben Hecht's day when that legendary journalist tried to raise awareness for the plight of those trapped in Nazi Europe. Strangely, most of his early support came from Gentile performers. Jews were afraid to speak up. Either they didn't care or were afraid to spur (more) anti-Semitism. Today, there is so much anti-Semitism around, there's not much chance of making it worse (okay, that is debatable). This leaves us to conclude that Hollywood -- so quick to defend the widow and the orphan -- does not care.
Yet, I believe Hollywood does care. So if that's the case, why the silence? Why is Sean Penn not in Israel? My guess, as to the reason for this Silence of Hollywood Lambs, is that Israel has lost the public relations war and has allowed itself to be portrayed as Goliath, when in fact Israel is David.
Israel is not a fashionable cause. Israel is not a liberal cause. Some of this is Israel's fault for its failure to get the message out. Much of it, though, is the fault of what I dare refer to as a "media pogrom." This media pogrom extends from Australia, throughout Europe, up to and into our own doorsteps. Just the other day the Philadelphia Inquirer (carrying AP), referred to members of the Palestinian terrorist group Fatah as "activists." So, as this is being written, as Sean Penn visits Baghdad hospitals to bring a smile to Arab children, Israel weeps alone.
You would think that Hollywood would embrace Israel, since Hollywood was founded by Jews. Hollywood is Jewish glory. The studios were founded by Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, Samuel Goldwyn and the like, on to today?s Katzenberg, Geffen, Spielberg. Our cast of characters, past and present, includes such luminaries as John Garfield, Jeff Chandler, June Allison, Natalie Wood, Kirk Douglas, Cary Grant, Paul Newman, Lee Grant, Harrison Ford, Winona Ryder, Billy Crystal, Ellen Barkin, Alan Arkin, Goldie Hawn, Michael Caine.... Yes, yes, I know. Some of these are but partly Jewish and there are questions about Cary Grant, but that is a game we all play in Jewish homes.
What's going on in Israel, however,is no game. Jewish blood is flowing, once again, only this time there is no Ben Hecht to energize an outcry. For all I know, there may be a Sean Penn equal in Israel right now bringing comfort to thousands of Israeli children who managed to survive suicide attacks. If such a performer is out there, I have not heard his name. I have not heard the names of any Hollywood stars -- Jewish or Gentile -- who have bothered to visit Rambam Hospital or Hadassah Hospital to bring a smile to a Jewish child who has lost arms and legs. There are so many of them, children and grown-ups. All victims of these "activists."
I may not agree with Sean Penn's politics, but I like the fact that he is not afraid, not silent, and that he cares about people other than himself.
--------------------------------------------------------
Jack Engelhard is the author of the international bestseller Indecent Proposal and is a former radio and newspaper editor covering the Mideast, as well as a former American volunteer in the Israeli Defense Forces. His columns can be read online at http://www.comteqcom.com/jackcolumn.php and he can be reached at JackEngelhard@ComteQcom.com.