Maybe that headline is obvious but when it comes to Israel and the effort among some artists to express their displeasure with the Jewish State, it couldn’t be more accurate. Actors really do say the dumbest things. Take the letter supporting Israeli artists who are refusing to perform at a new theatre in Ariel, a so-called settlement north of Jerusalem. Actor Theodore Bikel (“Fiddler on the Roof”) signed the letter from Hollywood and explained his reasons this way: “Anyone who has strong feelings for Israel like I do, and that believes it is an absolute necessity to strive for peace, understands that the single most obvious obstacle are the settlements,” Bikel said. Let’s see about that one. Bikel claims that settlements are the “most obvious” obstacle to peace. Well, Israel dismantled over a dozen settlements in the Gaza Strip before unilaterally turning over the territory to the Palestinian Authority. The result has been a near constant stream of “peaceful” rockets, kidnappings and gunfire from Gaza into Israel.
Another example of how actors lose their minds when it comes to Israel is Wallace Shawn’s explanation of why he drafted the letter in the first place. Shawn told the Jerusalem Post that he did it because he was moved by the courage of the Israeli artists risking their livelihoods. ““Most of us, including actors, just want to lead a quiet life. And most of us go through our entire lives without doing anything really courageous, without risking anything important to us.” Actors want to lead a quiet life? Since when did publicity-seeking, limelight hogging actors only want a quiet life? Since never.
The idiocy of these comments only proves once again that performers should stick to lines written by professionals. They get themselves into trouble when they try to go off on their own.