Yes, I am surprised.  Gratified perhaps, but still amazed.  Hollywood has actually taken a position against terrorism.

Hollywood has long since been a town of liberals who typically take positions I find nonsensical.  But today in a full page ad in the LA Time, 84 Hollywood heavy weights took a different stand.

Nic and stars against terror 
(note:  Interesting that the ad is in a US paper, but we read about it from a source in Australia…)

NICOLE Kidman has made a public stand against terrorism - and accepted a high-level offer to visit Israel.

The actress was joined by 84 other Hollywood stars, directors and studio bosses yesterday in a powerfully-worded full-page advertisement in the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

It specifically targeted "terrorist organisations" such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine.

"We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas," the ad read. "If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die.

"We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs."

The ad was also signed by celebrities including Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Danny De Vito, Don Johnson, William Hurt and Ridley Scott plus News Corporation chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch and Paramount Pictures chairman Sumner Redstone.

News Corporation is the parent company of News Limited, publisher of The Daily Telegraph.

It also emerged yesterday that Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres had persuaded Kidman to visit Israel.

The pair met at a conference held by Mr Murdoch in California last month.

"We will be happy to have you," Mr Peres told Kidman. "Maybe you can be tourism ambassador to the Galilee."

Kidman asked Mr Peres about the country’s prospects for the future.

"We will come out stronger from this conflict (with Hezbollah)," he said.

With so many people condemning Israel for their retaliation this is gratifying.

Who you may ask?  Well Jimmy Carter for one:

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH JIMMY CARTER

…

SPIEGEL: You also mentioned the hatred for the United States throughout the Arab world which has ensued as a result of the invasion of Iraq. Given this circumstance, does it come as any surprise that Washington’s call for democracy in the Middle East has been discredited?

Carter: No, as a matter of fact, the concerns I exposed have gotten even worse now with the United States supporting and encouraging Israel in its unjustified attack on Lebanon.

SPIEGEL: But wasn’t Israel the first to get attacked?

Carter: I don’t think that Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon. What happened is that Israel is holding almost 10,000 prisoners, so when the militants in Lebanon or in Gaza take one or two soldiers, Israel looks upon this as a justification for an attack on the civilian population of Lebanon and Gaza. I do not think that’s justified, no.

Amazing.  No condemnation for the several thousand rocket attacks by Hezbollah of course.  Mr Carter has restored my lack of faith in his judgement.

Of Course Iran is right there with Mr Carter:

Iran Leader Praises Hezbollah Resistance

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a message to Hezbollah head Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, described the militant group’s clashes with Israel as a "victory" for Islam.

"Your unprecedented holy war and steadfastness are beyond the limits of my description. It’s a divine victory. It is a victory of Islam," Khamenei said in the message read by an announcer on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television.

Hezbollah is heavily financed and backed by Iran’s Shiite Muslim theocracy.

There is a strange irony that Iran and Carter should agree on this (for different reasons I conceed) when Iran and the hostage crisis there in the 80s had a great deal to do with Carter as being seen as one of our worst and weakest presidents.

With the cease fire being hailed as a victory for Hamas and HezBollah, and with no actual hope for disarming Hezbollah, this will do nothing but embolden the terrorists.

Beirut cools to disarming Hezbollah

The prospect that a triumphal Hezbollah militia will give up its weapons slumped yesterday, with the Lebanese government backing away from a vague promise to disarm it, and a promised international force showing no interest in the mission.

Nice. 

Israel and Hezbollah were having a stare down.  When Israel refused to quit, the whole world blinked for them and gave Hezbollah the win.

Brian and the Judge on the radio todaypredicted this was not over. 

I agree.  This was a very sad round one.  Round two, coming to a theater near you.

And the sad part is that so many politicians still don’t get it, but now Hollywood, typically accused of being out of touch, does.

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