Anti-Israel Celebrities
I’ve already published a Pro-Israel Celebrities post, so I think now’s the time to post one on those who are anti-Israel.
Below is a list of celebrities (dead and alive) who were/are either definitely anti-Israel or have somehow been associated with an anti-Israel cause. Where there is an article proving this, I have linked the celebrity’s name to it. Where an article lists many such celebrities, I have included it under General Sources after the complete list of names.
Note that this post is designed to be a work-in-progress, and not a complete list of anti-Israel celebrities (which is, I suspect, a very long list). If you know of other anti-Israel celebrities, please leave their names in the comments, as well as a links to proof of this, and I will update the post accordingly.
Andrew Jarvis
Andy de la Tour
Annie Firbank
Caryl Churchill
Cherie Lunghi
Danny Glover
David Byrne
David Aukin
David Calder
Emma Thompson
Harriet Walter
Harry Belafonte
Jane Fonda
Janet Henfrey
John Graham Davies
Jonathan Chadwick
Jonathan Miller
Julie Christie
Ken Loach
Kika Markham
Leo Butler
Mark Rylance
Matyelok Gibbs
Michael Darlow
Mike Leigh
Miriam Margolyes
Neville Jason
Niall Buggy
Paul Freeman
Richard Wilson
Roger Lloyd Pack
Susan Wooldridge
Trevor Griffiths
Ursula Jones
Viggo Mortensen
Wallace Shawn
General Sources:
Toronto Declaration: No Celebration of Occupation
About the Author
An Aussie immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave is founder of Israellycool, happy family man, and lover of Australian sports and girlie drinksFiled Under: Aussie Dave
Alan Rickman.
Rosie O’Donell.
Roger Waters.
Y’mach sh’mam.
I already have Roger Waters. Will add the others if I can find a source.
The Prophet Muhammad.
Or are we only doing living celebrities?
These celebrities support the kangaroo court: Russell Tribunal on Palestine
Julie Christie Actress, UK (on your list)
Jonathan Cook Writer, Journalist, UK
Andy de la Tour Actor/Screenwriter, UK (on your list)
John Berger Writer, UK
Paul Laverty Screenwriter, UK
Mike Leigh Filmmaker, UK (on your list)
Ken Loach Filmmaker, UK (on your list)
Miriam Margolyes Actress, UK (on your list)
Peter Mullan Filmmaker and actor, UK
Juliet Stevenson Actress, UK
http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/about-rtop/patrons
Most of these people I have never heard of. You can add Julianne Moore to that list although I think a lot of these people are just empty air heads going along with the left wing trends and have no particular feelings towards Israel one way or the other. Most seem to be British I notice. Example – Elvis Costello was going to play in Israel but someone must have got to him.
Roger Waters is anti British too so I don’t expect him to have any great feelings for Israel either.
I don’t terribly like lists of names for reasons which I hope are obvious but I endorse this one. It makes me think of Jesus’ words on the cross…
You might add:
Stephen Fry
the late Harold Pinter
Jeremy Irons
Alice Walker and
Saffron Burrows.
You might also add the delusions of less strident but equally precious celebs like Stephen Sondheim, Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Tilly and Ruth Reichl.
Not to mention nutjob Henning Mankell. And ex-SS man Günther Grass. And notable American/British architect Charles Jencks.
However, though he is not an actor and is possibly not known to many of your readers, the most jaw-dropping moment for me was occasioned by these words from hallowed British journalist Max Hastings writing in the Daily Mail, where he thinks nothing of writing off an entire nation, not just its leadership:
OK, Barry, put away your Israel National News for a moment and listen to reason. Opposing illegal settlements on the West Bank is not an anti-Israel position. Stephen Sondheim anti-Israel? He’s about as political as the Easter Bunny. If these are your criteria for coming up with a list, it makes this exercise even more pointless than I originally thought.
Ariel is as “illegal” as US sovereignty over Colorado. Stick to what you know, which clearly is zilch about international law.
Show me any map approved by the Israeli government that has Ariel as an integral part of Israel. Who are you trying to fool? And it doesn’t take an international law expert to know that unilateral claims by one country, which are not recognized by any other country in the world (including long-time allies) do not make for internationally-recognized legal standing. You can’t just make up the rules as you go along.
You’re right. You can’t make up the rules as you go along. And that is why the Mandate for Palestine of 24 July 1922, a League of Nations document that stands to this day, is held up in Article 80 of the UN Charter which states that “nothing in this Chapter shall be construed in or of itself to alter in any manner the rights whatsoever of any states of any peoples or the terms of existing international instruments to which Members of the United Nations may respectively be parties”.
Got that?
Meanwhile Ariel, a town of 20,000 people, is certain to be part of any future Israeli state recognized by the Palestinians.
Now if you’d kindly keep to the subject under discussion, you might want to comment on the opinions of the other “celebrities” I referred to.
The Israeli government opposes illegal settlements, which it defines as squatting on Arab-owned land. Otherwise, the rest of the West Bank is up for grabs. The Arabs rejected the 1947 partition plan and still do. From 1949 to 1967, this patch of ground was ruled by the Hashemites. After they started and lost the war with Israel, they renounced all claims to this territory. All this leaves Israel sovereign by default. Should the Arabs choose to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, then the parties will negotiate secure and recognized boundaries as called for by UN 242. Until then, Israel, as default ruler, has the right of eminent domain, a legal principle that has dispossessed more Americans than Arabs over the last 45 years.
Norman, I’m very sympathetic to the argument that the Arabs have missed many, many opportunities to end the Arab/Israeli Conflict peacefully. There are consequences for launching multiple wars against Israel over the last 60 years and losing every one of them. But for the sake of all Israelis there has to be some kind of peace agreement negotiated with the Arabs. Even Netanyahu says he recognizes that the establishment of a binational state will mean the end of Israel as a Jewish state.
Keep banging your head against the wall. You and the likes of Netanyahu, Barak, Livni, et al.
Thanks for the bright advice, which so many of us knew would never work from the get go. You’re a gem!
And you think your approach of Israel as the Orkin Man, treating Palestinians as pests to get rid of would ever be acceptable by your own countrymen? Israelis would never accept your approach to what you consider to be a just peace. Never. Why not follow your yellow brick road all the way to Migron, Shy Guy? That’s Israel, too, right?
Pallys “pests”? Were the Nazis “pests”?!
Idiot!
Jim, apparently you concede my legal arguments. And yes, I agree with you that a just and lasting peace is in everybody’s interest. The problem is how to get from point A to point B. Denying or ignoring Arab malevolence will not work. All that does is encourage them to keep grasping at straws instead of facing reality.
YES. IT. IS.
Now get off of occupied Indian land!
Me heap dizzy trying to understand crazy talk from paleface. Half of Israelis oppose the West Bank settlements. So half of Israelis are anti-Israel? Ugh, big bunkum, and how!
No. Half of the Israelis are plain stupid, like half of the Americans. Take yourself, for example…
If only AussieDave gave the Wonderlic test to participate in the IsraellyCool Comments Section. As Dean Wormer (“Animal House”) would say: “Shy Guy – Zero Point Zero.”
What do they want then? To destroy Israel and start again? What is the point of that?
Honestly, I suspect these people can easily sign a letter, but if confronted with actually defending the position, few could do it.
I did not know that famous Lesbian Blowhard Cynthia Nixon hated Israel. I do sincerely hope she celebrates her marriage, to a woman, in Gaza.
Don’t worry, we Palestinians aren’t judgemental.
Lol,the palestinians will fully recognize her marriage.Isn’t it against the law there? I think I may have read you can get the death penalty over it.
Patti Smith is virulently anti-Israel.
“Opposing illegal settlements on the West Bank is not an anti-Israel position.”
If you mean the illegal Arab settlements, then I agree.
A hint, Jim: No state bigger than Israel, or citizen thereof, has the right to tell Israel to get smaller. Least of all can they call themselves “pro-Israel” once they have done so.
“unilateral claims by one country, which are not recognized by any other country in the world … do not make for internationally-recognized legal standing.”
Then we’ll do without international recognition. A nation needs no permission from other nations to build on and inhabit its own soil. If anything, I have come to regard the calls for Israel to get smaller as nothing less than permission for Israel to get bigger and bigger, to build and build without limit, to thumb its nose at all the insolent busybodies who dare to intervene in Israel’s internal affairs.
“which are not recognized by any other country in the world (including long-time allies)”
We can do without such an alliance that comes at so dear a price as being pushed by our “allies” to give up parts of our already meager land.
“But for the sake of all Israelis there has to be some kind of peace agreement negotiated with the Arabs.”
Been there, seen it, done that, got the bloodstained, suicide-bombed T-shirt. Why didn’t you negotiate with Osama after 9/11?
“And you think your approach of Israel as the Orkin Man, treating [Arab settler-colonists] as pests to get rid of would ever be acceptable by your own countrymen?”
My fellow countrymen have had over a decade of Arab intransigence to warm up to the idea that true peace can be brought about only by expelling all the Arab settler-colonist population from the entire Land of Israel.
“Israelis would never accept…”
You don’t know what most Israeli Jews think. This is especially impertinent considering your outrage at my thoughts regarding mainstream American values.
“Why not follow your yellow brick road all the way to Migron, Shy Guy? That’s Israel, too, right?”
Yes, all is Israel. What is within the bounds of Eretz Yisrael is legally the Jewish people’s. What is within the bounds of the Arabian Peninsula is legally the Arab nation’s. What is within the bounds of Eretz Yisrael under possession of Arabs is illegal and stolen and must be evacuated by them for the sake of just and viable peace in the Middle East.
“Half of Israelis oppose the [Jewish population centers in Judea and Samaria].”
Where did you get that figure? From a poll of Haaretz readers? Or from one taken in 1997? The true figure taken in 2012 by a credible, non-treasonous source can in no way be higher than 30%.
I’m not sure where you stand, but I’m firmly in the Israel as a modern democratic state camp. I will always acknowledge and respect the will of the Israeli people through their elective representatives. It’s no secret I don’t like the current Netanyahu government. But I know that the most crackpot elements of the government will force new elections, perhaps even this year, and then a new coalition government will form. Maybe it will be Likud and Kadima this time (which I’ve wanted for some time now). We’ll see. Enjoy your Passover holiday.
ZT: Very well said.
Chag Sameach, ziontruth and all celebrating and Happy Easter as applicable!
Still telling truth to ignorance! AmYisraelChai!
Thanks, Barry. Don’t be too hard on Jim, he’s not a bad person, he just suffers from a tad hippie naivete.
And blessings upon you too, Ariadne! Non CiFWatch illegitimi trollum carborundum! (Don’t let the CiFwatch troll b**tards grind you down)
It’s a pretzelberg/dubitante site now. Too time-wasting.
“It’s a pretzelberg/dubitante site now.”
So sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, I’m not in a state to post on CiFWatch right now; I’m in a raging mood lately, and it’s a hundred to one I’d get my comments on CiFWatch deleted, at best.
Is the raging mood caused by anything you’d care to share, ziontruth? There’s enough stupidity and hate around to make angels weep. Catalonia is 20% Muslim, apparently and Catalonians seem to be just waiting for the end.
I’ve often wondered about the 20% in Israel but of course our far less than 20% has been dumped upon us increasingly over 30 years.
The Raed Salah case might be appealed.
We have a benefits system called National Insurance which every worker has to pay for a pension at 60+. Obviously a NI number is allocated when someone starts to work at the minimum age of 16. Our population appears to be not much over 60m. But strangely in 2007 government figures showed 76m NI numbers in existence. I have asked Migration Watch about that twice to no avail.
As Barry noted above, Howard Jacobson is speaking up for Israel and in the best way for creative people.
Dave, I apologise for going off-topic. I’ve been alarmed about Israel since autumn 2008 and nothing I see now makes me feel better about it. Except for the Howard Jacobsons and other rays of light that emerge from that hate-filled darkness and ignorance and counter it.
“Is the raging mood caused by anything you’d care to share, ziontruth?”
Of my personal life I don’t share, but my rage was partly, and greatly, caused by the murders in Toulouse. My thoughts immediately thereafter would be grounds for banning from just about any forum.
“I’ve often wondered about the 20% in Israel”
In pre-1967 Israel it’s not 20% Muslims, it’s 20% non-Jews, of which most are Muslims. I don’t consider the non-Muslim non-Jews comparable to the Muslims by any stretch, but Marxist anti-nationalist sentiment tends to run high among the non-Muslim Arabs, even the otherwise loyal (by religious doctrine, like the Jews) Druzes. I don’t hate them (at least, not a priori the way I do the Muslims), but it’s always been a mistake to put their national pride to the test, having them live in a different nation’s state.
If I were in charge of map-reordering (like the anti-Zionists say we Zionists are… As usual, the biggest problem with the accusations of our haters is that they aren’t true), the Muslims would be packing way the heck out to the Arabian Peninsula, and the Christian Arabs and the Druzes would get states of their own carved out of former Muslim-inhabited lands. But “man plans and God laughs,” so I’ll leave the unfolding of history—whatever is beyond my direct control—to Him.
All the best to you, Ariadne. Hoping Britain gets out of its messes and establishes normal relations with Israel, neither alliance nor hostility.
I don’t think Britain will improve unless we leave the EU, ziontruth. And then we have the recorded “history” which still won’t be truthful. But knowing our true population figures would be something.
As usual, the biggest problem with the accusations of our haters is that they aren’t true
And they are current here, of course.
I’d like to nominate an anti-Israel celebrity who may not seem like a celebrity outside Britain. John Humphrys of the BBC Radio 4′s Today program.
This programme is fairly political and a lot of politicians are terrified of Humphrys.
There’s also the Middle East “correspondent” Jeremy Bowen who corresponds to Arabism.
I never hear Bowen (by choice) but I do hear Humphrys.
An example of Humphrys bias:
BBC allows Gaza liar to dominate interview
Bowen:
Always to blame.
The hope we can have there is that the BBC loses its income from the UK population.
Here is the new blog for Biased BBC
The archive is in the right side-bar. I found this link by searching within the blog on Bowen’s name:
Archive search.
And, ziontruth, both our politicians and governments seem to stand in the way of sense.
An important addition to the debate here.
You have to understand how the Hollywood “mental”ity works. As long as you are white and have any kind of money, and sometimes if you are white and poor, they don’t care if any sort of horror befalls you.
But…
If you are brown, black or poor, they come running every time with their check books and telling the world and the victims who is to blame —- which is usually anybody who is white and not on welfare.
They are the supreme racists and haters, but don’t even see it. Maybe some of them do. For example, when Hurricane Katrina hit, Sean Penn could not get there fast enough with his boat and camera crew. You know — to document his good deed. But when disaster befalls the heartland, Sean Penn could not care less.
They think they are showing themselves to be the more superior loving ones, but their hatred and racism shines even brighter when they either remain absent or silent or worse yet hurl blame when tragedy befalls white people.
So I am not surprised that Israel is their target of hate. Not surprised at all.
Not all Israelis, or even all Ashkenazi Jews, are white.
What you say may be true, but the vast majority of non-Arab Israelis are not of “color.” And it doesn’t much matter anyway, since Israelis are generally counted as “white” by others, and still worse seen by much of the Left as “colonialist” interlopers victimizing the “natives.”
As someone who has lived in Israel, I can tell you that this is not true. You have Jews of all colors here, although most are olive-to-brown in skin tone. You’d also be surprised at how many Arabs are not only white, but virtually indistinguishable from your average Israeli.
By the way, Arabs are also counted as white in the census. And I no longer take the far lefts opinions seriously.
What you say may be true, and I expect it is true, but that’s “reality” and I was talking about “beliefs,” however uninformed those may be. While “reality” should be trump over “beliefs,” especially ill-founded or clearly mistaken ones, it is often otherwise. And again, it isn’t all about “whiteness” or “color” per se, but in large part about symbolism and projection.
As for “the far lefts[sic] opinions,” they may be objectionable for various reasons, even frankly evil, but unfortunately they are not inconsequential. They account for much more of today’s antisemitism, albeit masquerading as “anti-Zionism,” than is the right.
Professor Christine Chinkin of the London School of Economics and of the Goldstone Report (im)fame.
Ken roach , is dead . rest are z list celebs
Why isn’t the list above alphabetized to make it easy to consult?
It is..by first name
I had in mind the usual way of alphabetizing, that is by last names, which are more singular. But it is helpful to have such a list organized however it may be organized (or disorganized).
Now, how about some other lists that might prove as helpful or more helpful than this one of anti-Israel celebrities? For example, how about a list of J Street’s most egregious endorsements? One can go to J Street’s website and see their current endorsees, but one won’t see their previous ones (I don’t think), and the names of many, especially Representatives, may not mean much if anything to us unless they are our own members of Congress or we recall reading about their anti-Israel positions. There was a Jewish woman from the SF Bay area running for the Democratic nomination in the last election cycle (2010), someone of the Jewish Voices for Peace type (an “AShamed Jew”), and she got the enthusiastic endorsement of that purportedly “pro-Israel, pro-peace” group. Such a list, with details of just how bad some of their endorsees are from the perspective of true supporters of Israel, would be of use when contesting those who maintain that J Street is what it claims to be, that is “pro-Israel.”
hey ,,,, why not u count me??? i am anti israel too……
and i am artis lol….
[deleted]
So you want to fight Israel to the last Arab, coward? Put your carcass where your mouth is or shut up.
I’m pretty sure Johnny Depp is to
Too**
These people are NOT anti-Israel celebrities but PRO-PALESTINE celebrities. It doesn’t mean they’re anti-Israel because they support the citizens of Palestine (whether Muslim or Christian PALESTINIAN citizen). This is just pathetic.
THESE PEOPLE ARE HEROS!
PS., SOMEONE SHOULD PISS ALL OVER BERRYS FACE.
lionel messi
christiano ronaldo
I think the definition of anti-Israel used here is too broad. For instance, opposing the settlements in the West Bank is not anti-Israel. I am also opposed to the settlement expansion, and I am just about the farthest thing from an anti-Zionist there is. In fact, I hate anti-Zionists, and hold them in contempt for being insensitive (consciously or otherwise) to the needs and rights of the Jewish people.
Here’s my criteria….
*Denying Jewish indigeneity to Israel.
*Calling it an apartheid state. That is, unless it actually does become an apartheid state.
*Agitating for its destruction as a Jewish state, whether through violence, boycotts, or anything else.
Those are your criteria for what? For “anti-Israel,” “anti-Zionist,” “antisemitic,” or what exactly? How do you see being “anti-Israel” as different from being “anti-Zionist”? Do you see anyone on that list to whom one or more of those labels does not apply?
Anti-Israel and anti-Zionist are interchangeable, as far as I’m concerned. Anybody who falls under any of the 3 criteria listed can be safely described as anti-Zionist.
I am really surprised about Coldplay. Isn’t Chris Martin married to Gwyneth Paltrov. I know she is Jewish and oviously a big wig in Jewish Hollywood.I guess you never can tell.
Sorry for the typo….I meant obviously.
Anyways, I support Israel and I think they are true Jews who have suffered to find a homeland. I have Jewish friends who are the best.The only time I have been offended is how the Hollywood Jews often make assumptions about white people and the same thing with the mainstream media in the US.They have done a good job of alienating white America. Luckily, I grew up around Jewish people and have always had positive experiences with the people I have known.In fact, the people I know are my true friends.God Bless Israel and all the wonderful people who live there.
Norman Finkelstein
Cold Play
Stephen Hawking
The fence (not a wall) was built to keep Jew hating genocidal maniacs like you out. By the way, the building materials were supplied by your Arab heroes.