Angelina Jolie the Humanitarian and Politicized Hollywood Stars

Hollywood stars have been and are a tool of U.S. intelligence agencies throughout history, whether it be through their actions or their opinions, and it is undeniable that readers must remember the positions of George Clooney, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg on the occupation of Iraq or the events of Sudan and the like. We do not hear them criticizing Israel’s actions or acting as though the ones that they killed are human beings with rights. On the contrary, they give concerts to benefit Israel, and they support the collection of donations for Israel and make films that support Israel’s policy, such as “Munich,” and others.

Just as we do not see or hear them criticizing Israeli policies in favor of the rights of the citizens to return peacefully to their country or to visit the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria, or those who were expelled from Iraq and faultlessly thrown into camps in Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia before being exiled to New Zealand, Australia, Brazil and Latin American countries to keep them away from their Palestine. We did not see a single movie star visiting them, although they visited Iraqis detained in Abu Ghraib and Fallujah and other places. Angelina Jolie made a quick visit to a Syrian refugee camp holding 4,000 or 5,000 people, but there are millions of refugees in camps all over the world.

It is wonderful for movie stars to be active in humanitarian causes because they are an integral part of the world and because it is important for an artist to be aware of both the happiness and the suffering of human beings. Unfortunately, they have become part of a political game acted out through the press for their own selfish motives, and although some have their humanitarian goals, it is used on many occasions in order to achieve political objectives, as is the case of Richard Gere on the subject of Buddhism and Tibet; or their work is used to make a political statement, as seen from stars such as George Clooney toward the Sudanese and Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford and dozens of other stars who provide unlimited support to Israel, whether they are Jewish or not. This matter is very serious because the star can capture the world’s attention to things just by virtue of their stardom and distract from other areas that the people who sent them don’t want the world to pay attention to. Unfortunately, these things are staring us in the face.

Sometimes respected humanitarians visit the camps, as is the case for Angelina Jolie. She is a noted humanitarian but within the limits of specific policy; she does not cross the line, specifically when it comes to Israel and its aggression and in confronting the evidence of this when she visited Palestine. She refused to visit the Jenin camp to see the massacres committed by the Zionists, and when she visited the Gaza Strip, she did not condemn the aggression and even called for support for education, health, etc. These humanitarians demand the siege of Sudan and a military solution to Darfur alongside a humanitarian solution; they know how to change things, but they do not read or listen to history. In 1982, the Jewish star Kirk Douglas (president of the fundraising committees in aid of the colonies built in Jerusalem) and the actress Jane Fonda visited in support of the Israeli army occupying Lebanon and stood next to Sharon’s tribute to himself and his soldiers who committed the Sabra and Shatila massacres until they found a justification for the massacres, and then they flew the same plane to visit Afghan refugees in Pakistan.