October 23, 2003

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE . . .

Mideast peace as cause celebre (Bradley Burston, Haaretz, 10/22/03)

Driven to distraction by the tragedies of eternal warfare and the burdens of economic strife, Israelis woke Wednesday to a peace initiative so outlandish as to accomplish the impossible - defy immediate condemnation.

Heralded by a literally star-spangled flourish in the popular press, an organization called OneVoice Israel announced that a red carpet list of marquee actors - Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Alexander, Danny De Vito and Rhea Pearlman - had signed on for a decidedly unorthodox mission: coming to the Holy Land in an effort to make peace. . . .

Security permitting, the stars are to arrive in Israel at the end of the year or the beginning of 2004, said OneVoice Israel Executive Director David Leffler, a one-time aide to Yitzhak Rabin, and more recently, Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport.

Leffler said the group's goal is to promote a referendum, in which "very large numbers" of both Israelis and Palestinians would take part. . . .

Through the results of the referendum, "We want each side to see that the other side has a moderate majority," Leffler said.

Its hard not to make fun of this and I'm skeptical that the referendum will show that each side "has a moderate majority." But something's got to give and celebrities will focus attention on the referendum, so more power to them.

Posted by David Cohen at October 23, 2003 10:28 AM
Comments

David: You show too much restraint.

Posted by: Chris at October 23, 2003 12:26 PM

"Fifty-nine percent of Palestinians believe that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad should continue their armed struggle against Israel even if Israel leaves all of the West Bank and Gaza, including East Jerusalem, and a Palestinian state is created, a new survey shows."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1066799672944

Posted by: Robert Schwartz at October 23, 2003 12:41 PM

I eagerly await the photo next year of Louie DePalma, Carla Tortelli and George Castanza accepting the Nobel Peace Prize (well, maybe not Castanza -- the PETA people still haven't forgiven him for those Kentucky Fried Chicken commericals and will do anything in their power to stop his selection by the committee...)

Posted by: at October 23, 2003 2:24 PM

Sounds like the Peace Ship to me.

Posted by: Harry Eagar at October 23, 2003 3:27 PM

One bomb within a block or so of where they gather before the press would change them: some would help and would come to understand what evil is; most would scurry back to their suites and fly home first thing in the morning. Any bets on which is which?

Posted by: jim hamlen at October 23, 2003 4:44 PM

Jim - a bomb near America's sweethart Anistan is probably the only thing that would get some liberals to support the war on terror in the middle east.

Posted by: AWW at October 23, 2003 10:37 PM
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