ANGELINA JOLIE’S FATHER BLASTS ISRAEL-CONDEMNING HOLLYWOOD CELEBRITIES

John Voight accuses Hollywood celebrities of fueling anti-Semitism by condemning Israel for its ‘barbarism’ against Gaza’s civilians

Kudos to John Voight for speaking out on a hot-button issue and telling it like it is. I am sure it won’t take long for Hollywood’s elite liberals to excoriate him for his remarks.

ANGELINA JOLIE’S FATHER JOHN VOIGHT SLAMS ‘IGNORANT’ PENELOPE CRUZ FOR INCITING ANTI-SEMITISM BY SIGNING LETTER TO THE EUROPEAN UNION OVER GAZA CONFLICT
Cruz called Israel's four-week bombing campaign in Gaza 'barbarism'

by Sam Webb

Mail Online
August 3, 2014

Actor Jon Voight has branded Spanish film stars Penélope Cruz, and Javier Bardem 'ignorant' after they condemned Israel for its military action in the Gaza Strip.

The Hollywood star and father of Angelina Jolie claims the pair are helping to fan 'the fire of anti-Semitism that is raging all over the world now' after they called for Europe to condemn Israel's bombing of the Palestinian territory, which has now claimed at least 1,200 lives - many of them civilians.

Married Cruz and Bardem, as well as Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, are the latest major celebrities to go public with their views on the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The Spanish celebrities speaking out against Israel's actions in Gaza call on the EU to 'condemn the bombing by land, sea and air against the Palestinian civilian population'.

'Palestinians' homes are being destroyed, they are being denied water, electricity, free movement to their hospitals, schools and fields while the international community does nothing,' they add.

But Voight says Cruz and Bardem are ignorant about the political realities of the region and the threat faced by Israel.

In an open letter to the Hollywood Reporter, he wrote: 'My name is Jon Voight and I am more than angry, I am heartsick that people like Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem could incite anti-Semitism all over the world and are oblivious to the damage they have caused.

'After years of trying to make peace, the wars they had to fight, being attacked by their enemies, and still being attacked, and finally after years of running into bomb shelters and having hundreds of civilians killed by suicide bombers, civilians being killed in their sleep, stabbed to pieces, finding enough is enough and finally retaliating, instead of my peers sticking up for the only democratic country in that region, they go and take out poison letters against them.

'You should hang your heads in shame. You should all come forth with deep regrets for what you did, and ask forgiveness from the suffering people in Israel.'

The letter is not the first time Bardem has spoken out in support of Gaza.

In an article for Spanish newspaper El Diario last weekend, he called the conflict 'genocide', adding that it amounted to an 'occupation and extermination against a people without means, confined to a minimum of land, without water and where hospitals, ambulances and children are targets'.

Branding himself 'outraged, ashamed and hurt', Bardem added that he did not want tax he pays in Spain to be used to support Israeli 'barbarism', before going on to recognise the distinction between the actions of the Israeli state and the opinions of Jews, who may not support the bombings.

'...being Jewish does not automatically mean you support this massacre, just like being Hebrew does not mean you are a Zionist, just like being Palestinian does not automatically make you a Hamas terrorist. That's just as absurd as saying that being German makes you Nazi,' he said.

Bardem went on to say that he had spoken to a lot of Jewish friends in the U.S. about the conflict, one of whom he claimed had told him: 'You can't call it self-defence while you're murdering children.'

Voight too has voiced his opinions on the ongoing strife before. Attending a pro-Israel rally in Las Vegas, he said: 'Every patriotic American Jew and non-Jew alike must show their outrage, that we will not tolerate propaganda and lies about Israel being the aggressors and suppressors of the Palestinians.'

'It seems anti-Semitism is very much alive,' he added.

Here is the open letter from The Hollywood Reporter in which John Voight told Israel-condemning HJollywood celebrities to hang their heads in shame:

My name is Jon Voight and I am more than angry, I am heartsick that people like Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem could incite anti-Semitism all over the world and are oblivious to the damage they have caused.

They are obviously ignorant of the whole story of Israel’s birth, when in 1948 the Jewish people were offered by the UN a portion of the land originally set aside for them in 1921, and the Arab Palestinians were offered the other half. The Arabs rejected the offer, and the Jews accepted, only to be attacked by five surrounding Arab countries committed to driving them into the sea. But the Israelis won. The Arabs tried it again in 1967, and again in 1973, launching a sneak attack on the holiest Jewish holiday. Each time the Jews prevailed but not without great loss of life. And when Israel was not fighting a major war, it was defending itself against terrorist campaigns.

And yet Israel has always labored for a peaceful relation with its Arab neighbors. It voluntarily returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in return for peace, and gave the Palestinians all of Gaza as a peace gesture. What was the response? The Palestinians elected Hamas, a terrorist organization, and they immediately began firing thousands of rockets into Israel.

After years of trying to make peace, the wars they had to fight, being attacked by their enemies, and still being attacked, and finally after years of running into bomb shelters and having hundreds of civilians killed by suicide bombers, civilians being killed in their sleep, stabbed to pieces, finding enough is enough and finally retaliating, instead of my peers sticking up for the only democratic country in that region, they go and take out poison letters against them.

You have forgotten how this war started. Did Hamas not kidnap and kill three young teenagers for the sake of killing, and celebrated after the killing? What a travesty of justice.

I am asking all my peers who signed that poison letter against Israel to examine their motives. Can you take back the fire of anti-Semitism that is raging all over the world now?

You have been able to become famous and have all your monetary gains because you are in a democratic country: America. Do you think you would have been able to accomplish this in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, et cetera? You had a great responsibility to use your celebrity for good. Instead, you have defamed the only democratic country of goodwill in the Middle East: Israel.

You should hang your heads in shame. You should all come forth with deep regrets for what you did, and ask forgiveness from the suffering people in Israel.