Ten major film studios are currently in production on projects that promote a decidedly pro-Israeli narrative. In famously liberal Hollywood, such a development has left mouths agape and set tongues a wagging.
Since the Jewish state began defending itself from the approximately 4,000 rockets that Hamas has hurled at it, the overwhelming amount of Tinseltown’s producers, directors, actors and studio moguls have remained mute to the plight of millions of Israeli citizens fleeing for their lives.
Yet while such silver screen luminaries as Penelope Cruz, Rihanna and Selena Gomez have criticized Israel’s response to the rocket attacks, a string of top Hollywood A-listers such as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a petition backing Jerusalem and condemning the terrorist organization that rules the Gaza Strip.
Evidently, the statement, initiated by a group called Creative Community for Peace and signed by close to 200 Hollywood heavyweights, has tapped a reservoir of goodwill towards Israel.
Shortly after the publication of the letter condemning the “ideologies of hatred and genocide which are reflected in Hamas’s charter,” movie studios such as the Walt Disney Company, Viacom and Time Warner announced they had greenlighted several projects that will convey a more balanced version of recent events in the Middle East.
Among the planned cinematic offerings:
1) There’s Something about Bibi
2) When Arik Met Sari
3) Dimona is Forever
4) The Humus Games
5) West Bank Story
6) Not without my Jachnun
7) Lawrence of the Arava
8) Mad Mashal: Beyond Iron Dome
9) Fajr on the Roof
10) A Sabra Named Desire
View other essays by Gidon Ben-Zvi that have been published by TLVFaces here.