Meryl’s Streep’s now infamous Golden Globes speech has been the subject of much discussion, with many (mostly) conservative pundits seeing it as representing everything that is wrong with Hollywood and the liberal elite.
But there is another aspect of the speech that has been criticized by some pro-Israel people.
Meryl Streep has been accused of being ‘anti-Israel’ after she said Natalie Portman was from Jerusalem at the Golden Globes.
Streep, who was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award on Sunday, had launched a blistering attack on Donald Trump in front of a room of stunned Hollywood stars.
But while the president-elect may have been the target, the three-time Oscar winner managed to insult football, MMA and now, according to some, the state of Israel, which has battled with the State of Palestine for decades over ownership of Jerusalem.
Attacking Trump’s divisive rhetoric towards immigrants, Streep said that ‘Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners.’
‘The beautiful Ruth Negga was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and was raised in Ireland… Ryan Gosling, like all the nicest people is Canadian. And Dev Patel was born in Kenya, raised in London, is here playing an Indian, raised in Tasmania.
Sarah Paulson was born in Florida… Amy Adams was born in Vicenzia, Italy, and Natalie Portman was born in Jerusalem. Where are their birth certificates?
Some have pounced on the fact that Streep chose to only mention that Portman was from the world famous city of Jerusalem, and not the country of Israel.
https://youtu.be/NxyGmyEby40?t=1m25s
I have to admit I never thought of it that way when I heard the speech – I was just pleased she mentioned Jerusalem.
But the more I think about it, it does perplex me why she didn’t just say Natalie Portman was from Israel.
I mean, she could have even easily said “Israel” without the “Jerusalem” part. Unless she understood people knew about Natalie Portman’s birthplace being Jerusalem, in which case this could have been a calculated omission.
I looked into Meryl Streep’s past statements and could not find anything remotely anti-Israel. She is friends with anti-Israel actress Emma Thompson, but I am sure she has pro-Israel friends too. And she has blasted Walt Disney as antisemitic. So there’s that.
Honestly, I am still on the fence about it. I would love to hear a response from her following this latest controversy.
At least we got an “Israel” from Gal Gadot.
