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Susan Sarandon Dropped From Indie Film Consideration After Comments About Israel, Jews at ‘Free Palestine’ Rally
Susan Sarandon at the 20th edition of the Magna Graecia Film Festival in August 2023. Photo: Marco Provvisionato/IPA/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
An indie film production company announced this week its decision to no longer work with American actress Susan Sarandon after she made inflammatory comments about Israel and Jews at a “Free Palestine” rally last month.
“As a company, PTO Films would like to make it clear that Susan Sarandon’s views do not reflect the opinions of our organization,” David Barroso, the co-founder of the indie film production company, told Page Six. “We were considering her for a short film, but due to her recent statements, we have decided to pursue other options.”
Barroso added that although PTO Films was pursuing the Oscar winner, 77, to play a part in their short film, there were never any formal “negotiations with her.” Another actress has not been cast yet to take on the role since the production has “fallen behind schedule,” he said.
Speaking at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York City last month, Sarandon accused Israel of war crimes and compared Hamas’ massacre of civilians in southern Israel on Oct. 7 to the difficulties Palestinians are facing in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
“So many people don’t understand the context in which this Oct. 7 assault happened,” said the Thelma & Louis star, trying to explain the Hamas massacre in which Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 240 others. “They don’t understand the history of what has been happening to the Palestinian people for 75 years … it’s time that Palestine be free.”
The actress also said, “There are a lot of people that are afraid, that are afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country.” She apologized for her comments about Jews on Saturday but did not mention her remarks about Israel.
Sarandon was set to appear in PTO Films’ short movie Slipping Away as Dr. Sylvia Mansfield, according to Page Six, which reported that the film was mentioned over the weekend on the actress’ IMDB page in her “upcoming” projects list under “pre-production,” but has since been removed. The thriller is about a schizophrenic who “struggles with his own psychosis and his wife’s extramarital affair as the lines between his violent hallucinations and reality become increasingly blurred,” according to the film’s description on IMDB. Her role in the film was reported on in 2018.
This is the second hit to Sarandon’s career following her comments at the “Free Palestine” rally. She was also dropped as a client by United Talent Agency.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Sarandon has shared a number of anti-Israel posts on social media. Even after the scandal following her comments at the rally in November, she has continued to criticize the Jewish state online. In one such message, shared on Tuesday on X/Twitter, she reposted a tweet that accused Israel of carrying out “a deliberate campaign of terror” in the Gaza Strip.
The post Susan Sarandon Dropped From Indie Film Consideration After Comments About Israel, Jews at ‘Free Palestine’ Rally first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Treasure Trove tells a tale of oranges, fertilizer and bombs
In 1926, four British chemical companies merged to create Imperial Chemical Industries, which became one of Britain’s mightiest industrial companies. It was the brainchild of Alfred Mond who became the new company’s managing director and chairman. Mond was an industrialist, financier and proud Zionist, who was president of the British Zionist Federation, founder of the town of Tel Mond, east of Netanya, and a strong proponent for the introduction of electricity into Palestine.
In 1928, Imperial Chemical Industries established ICI Levant as a subsidiary that operated in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Cyprus. Yechiel (Chilik) Weizmann, a chemist and the younger brother of Chaim who headed the World Zionist Organization, became the first manager.
ICI Levant imported pesticides, fertilizers, weapons and explosives, assisted local farmers in pest control and worked to educate farmers on the use of its products. Arabs in Palestine complained that ICI Levant was providing explosives and weapons to the Jews in Palestine, and was favouring Jewish labour for opportunities within the company. The company insisted it was neutral.
This is an advertisement for ICI Levant chemicals for use in fumigation. Prior to the Second World War, oranges were Palestine’s most lucrative industry growing from 831,000 boxes exported in 1920-21 to 13 million boxes in 1938-39. Yechiel Weizmann articulated the importance of ICI Levant’s pesticides for Palestine’s economy and agriculture when he said:
“The future of ICI is the future of Palestine, and what is the future of Palestine if not the future of orange trees; the future of orange trees is the extermination of the harming diseases.”
ICI Levant played another important role in the future of Palestine. In November 1945, an unknown man arrived at the company’s warehouse claiming to be a representative of the Hebron municipality and left with five tons of sodium nitrate. Two months later, eight armed men and women broke into the company’s offices in Tel Aviv and took ten tons of sodium nitrate.
Sodium nitrate is used in fertilizer… and explosives.
The post Treasure Trove tells a tale of oranges, fertilizer and bombs appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Egypt’s Sisi, Trump Discuss Gaza Ceasefire; No Mention of Palestinian Transfer in Statement
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, June 10, 2024. Photo: Amr Nabil/Pool via REUTERS
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and US President Donald Trump agreed on the need to consolidate the Gaza ceasefire deal in a phone call on Saturday, the Egyptian presidency said, but it was unclear if they discussed Trump’s call for the transfer of Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan.
The presidency said in a statement they had a positive dialogue which stressed the importance of fully implementing the first and second phases of the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and the need to step up humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza.
However, the statement did not mention if they discussed Trump’s statement last week that Egypt and Jordan should take in Palestinians from Gaza following 15 months of Israeli bombardments that have left most of its 2.3 million people homeless.
Critics have called his suggestion tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
Sisi rejected the idea on Wednesday, describing it as an “act of injustice.” However, on Thursday Trump reiterated his call, saying that “we do a lot for them, and they are going to do it,” in an apparent reference to US aid to both Egypt and Jordan.
Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Saturday also rejected a transfer of Palestinians from their land, saying such a move would threaten regional stability, spread conflict and undermine prospects for peace.
In their call, Sisi and Trump also expressed their keenness to achieve peace and stability in the region, the Egyptian presidency statement said.
Sisi invited Trump to visit Egypt as soon as possible to discuss problems in the Middle East, the statement added. The two presidents also discussed the need to strengthen their economic and investment ties, it said.
The post Egypt’s Sisi, Trump Discuss Gaza Ceasefire; No Mention of Palestinian Transfer in Statement first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu to Depart Sunday for US to Meet with Trump
US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in the midst of a joint news conference in the White House in Washington, US, Jan. 28, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will depart on Sunday for the United States to meet with President Donald Trump, Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday.
Netanyahu has been invited to visit Trump at the White House on Tuesday and they will discuss the situation in Gaza, hostages held by Hamas, and the confrontation with Iran and its regional allies, a statement from his office said.
The post Netanyahu to Depart Sunday for US to Meet with Trump first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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