Oscar Celebrities #SkipTheTrip To 'Israel'
NOVANEWS
By Ramah Kudaimi, USPCR
Acknowledge it, too
Israel had offered all-expenses-paid trips to 2016 Oscars host Chris Rock and 25 top nominees including Mark Ruffalo, Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Mark Rylance, and Cate Blanchett. The Israeli tourism ministry organized the trip with hopes that the superstars would use their platforms to show Israel in a positive light, countering worldwide outrage over Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.
So what happened? It was an utter failure. Now, it appears that not a single star visited Israel. The AFP wire service even ran this extraordinary headline appearing in many media outlets, “Israel invited 26 Oscar stars to visit. So far none has.”
Bringing celebrities to Israel has long been part of a “Brand Israel” strategy to impr...