Liz Taylor Stood up to Those Boycotting Israel

Mainstream American media reporting on the passing of Elizabeth Taylor, the famous movie star, generally ignored her support for Israel which had resulted in animosity from the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish crowd. Obituaries and reports generally completely omitted or barely mentioned Ms. Taylor’s warm relationship with Israel including standing up to the boycotters of Israel. A notable exception was a March 27 Washington Post (Outlook section) commentary which noted that Ms. Taylor “was also a supporter of Israel to a degree that largely went unmentioned this past week.”

A Partial list of Elizabeth Taylor’s Israel-related activities:
• In 1959 Ms. Taylor bought $100,000 in Israeli bonds. As a result, The United Arab Republic (Egypt and Syria) officially banned all her motion pictures.
• In 1962 Ms. Taylor was barred from entering Egypt as she was blacklisted as Jewish. As a result, the movie production “Cleopatra” filming had to be removed from Egypt. The Jerusalem Post (April 6, 2011) noted that: "Gen. Essam Elmasri, head of the Cairo regional bureau of the Israel Boycott Office, [in 1962] said in the Egyptian capital that Miss Taylor will not be allowed to come to Egypt because she has adopted the Jewish faith and supports Israeli causes."
• In 1976 Ms. Taylor offered herself as a hostage for the more than 100 Air France hijack victims held by terrorists at Entebbe Airport in Uganda during the tense days before the Israeli rescue raid.
• Ms. Taylor raised over 2 million dollars for the State of Israel.
• In 1967 Ms. Taylor canceled plans to attend the July Moscow Film Festival because of opposition to the Soviet diplomatic offensive against Israel.
• In 1982 Ms. Taylor signed a letter denouncing the United Nations’ racist “Zionism is racism” resolution.
• In 1987 Ms. Taylor helped launch an appeal to free Soviet Jewish refusenik Ida Nudel.
The Washington Post story pointed out that Elizabeth Taylor’s support of Israel is in sharp contrast to a number of celebrities who have gone along with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) crowd –– “an international activist network that sees Israel as an oppressor and seeks its isolation in virtually every realm” –– and cut ties with Israel. “The same artists usually have nothing in particular to say about China, Russia or repressive Muslim regimes,” it noted.

via blog.camera.org

image via dailymail.co.uk

she was beautiful!

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