“Mr. Big, are you Jewish?” a group of American teenagers shouted to the Sex in the City television star Chris Noth as they saw him getting out of his van at the entrance to the Western Wall Plaza on Tuesday evening.
“No, Catholic,” responded Noth.
“It doesn’t hurt that much,” joked Tourism Minister Gideon Ezra, who is hosting Noth on his ten day visit during which he will both to tour the country and to film a commercial for the cosmetic company Careline Ltd.
A chance meeting by a hotel pool in Utah with Israeli New Yorker Sharon Tzur brought him to Israel for the first time on Sunday. When he told her he was interested in visiting the country, Tzur lost no time contacting a friend in the New York branch of the Ministry of Tourism. Now, Mr. Big is in Israel along with Tzur.
On Tuesday, to the chorus of shouts from teenage girls and the flash of media cameras, which he later quipped gave “New York [media] a run for your money,” Noth stopped at the Western Wall where he talked to reporters.
At the plaza entrance, Noth reached into his pocket, took out a Kippah and put it on. At the wall, he placed a note between the stones. When asked what he wrote, Noth, was reticent to share.
“No, no, no,” he said, that’s private.
Asked by reporters what he felt while standing at the wall, he said, “I felt honored and privileged. This is really a great moment to be here and see the Wall and learn the history of this great city.”
Still he complained, “I wish I wasn’t hearing the click of a hundred cameras. I want to go back and have a more private moment.” Noth said he would like to return to Jerusalem “just as a citizen” not as a celebrity.
He said he wanted to show that Israel, like New York, is a safe place to visit in spite of the violence.
“People thought that after 9/11, New York was a place you couldn’t visit, but that’s nonsense. The world has its dangers everywhere, but I think it’s a misrepresenation by the media, who say because Israel is in the Middle East, ‘Do not go.’ I think a lot of people who see beyond the pictures they read in the papers understand that it is very safe here.”
The conversation quickly moved to politics, a topic in which Noth had already learned to play the diplomat. An Irish reporter asked Noth if he was aware that he was being called an “ambassador of good will.” Noth responded, “I don’t mind, I think we need all the good will we can get in the world.”
The reporter pressed Noth, asking if he was concerned that he was only witnessing “one side of the issue” or that he would be criticized for coming. “Why does everything have to be put that way?” he said, responding to the woman he called “Ms. Troublemaker from Ireland.” Noth added, “You’re allowed to see what you want to see. It’s not like I have anything against any other political party [or Palestinians]. I have good will for them too.”
“If because of whatever celebrity status [I have, my visit] means something a little bit more, I’m happy to let [the public] know everyone should come here,” Noth said.
One reporter asked him if he was the “perfect man” making a pun on the new romantic comedy he just finished filming by the same name. “Hell no,” he responded.
Another reporter hinted that some worshiper at the Western Wall may find his show obscene. “Do you think sex is obscene?” Noth responded.
Not all the worshipers disapproved. One even thought Mr. Big still merited a blessing. A small man in a white prayer shawl, large white knitted kippah, and long white beard came up to him and said, “I want to give Mr. Big a blessing.”
The man had to reach to touch the top of Noth’s head. He gave Noth a blessing and then had him repeat the first verse of the Shema.
Noth then retreated into his van where he was driven the few feet to a group of waiting teenagers from California who greeted him with a rendition of the song “Oseh Shalom,” and more than a few high pitched shrieks. He posed for pictures before exiting to his van again.
Noth expressed support for the contentious West Bank barrier Israel is building to keep Palestinian attackers out, referring to it as the Israeli government does ñ an “anti-terror fence.” In addition to visiting parts of the fence and touring Jerusalem, Noth plans to climb Massada at sunrise and go diving in Eilat, among many other destinations in Israel.
“People thought that after 9/11, New York was a place you couldn’t visit, but that’s nonsense. The world has its dangers everywhere, but I think it’s a misrepresenation by the media, who say because Israel is in the Middle East, ‘Do not go.’ I think a lot of people who see beyond the pictures they read in the papers understand that it is very safe here.”
– Chris “Mr Big” Noth, who is currently on a solidarity visit to Israel.
(AP)
Here is the full article on his visit to Israel, which shows what a no-nonsense, stand-up guy Chris is. Pay special attention to how he handles the Irish reporter who asks whether he is concerned that he is only witnessing “one side of the issue” or that he would be criticized for coming.
