Variety magazine rejects anti-Israel BDS ad

 

#BDSfail: The refused advertisement by the rabid anti-Israel group, the Jewish Voice for Peace, was to say: ‘Don’t endorse Israeli apartheid.’

By Gil Ronen

 

Entertainment magazine Variety recently refused to publish an advertisement placed by the extreme anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), that said “Don’t endorse Israeli apartheid.”

Oscar statue – Photo: Phil McCarten/Reuters

The ad was initially paid for by JVP, which supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. JVP claimed Monday that the magazine initially accepted payment for the ad, but then said it could not publish it as it was, and that “it would need to have a softer tone.”

The ad, headlined “Free Trip to Israel at the Expense of Palestinians,” calls on Oscar nominees to refuse a free Israel trip, which is worth $55,000, and which is included in the luxurious $200,000 gift bag that the Academy Awards are handing out to top nominees.

According to Jewish Journal, JVP said in a statement it had asked for suggestions of “specific edits” in the ad’s language, but was told “The topic is too sensitive at this time and we will not be in a position to add it to next week’s edition.”

JVP Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomerson called the refusal “a clear and disturbing example of the constraints on public debate about Palestine and Israel.”

The 10-day first class visit to the Jewish state, valued at $55,000, is the most expensive gift in the Oscar “goody bag.”

Among the other gift items are a lifetime supply of skin creams, a laser skin-tightening procedure, a year’s worth of unlimited Audi car rentals and a 15-day walking tour of Japan. Only the nominees for the top acting and directing categories will receive the pricey gift bags.

Israel’s supporters see it as a slap in the face to the BDS movement.

 

View original Arutz Sheva publication at:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208489#.Vs3OvPJ966o