The most anticipated movie of the summer, Wonder Woman, is released this week and receiving all-round rave reviews. Its lead is the breakout star, Israeli actress, former IDF soldier and Miss Israel winner: Gal Gadot.
Considering the criticisms and condemnations routinely aimed at Israel, and its general bad press around the world, it makes a refreshing change when Israel or an Israeli are on the receiving end of positive attention.
Of course though, wherever an Israeli goes, BDS follows. After a campaign by the BDS movement in Lebanon, the movie has been banned there, two hours before it was due to premiere, with posters lining the streets in Beirut. All because the lead actress is an Israeli – though her character and the movie itself have nothing to do with Israel.
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As Haaretz put it, referring to one of the IDF’s boldest operations ever, in 1973:
Lebanon hasn’t been so afraid of an Israeli woman since Ehud Barak raided Beirut in drag https://t.co/AccOixj96J
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) May 31, 2017
The managing director of the film’s distributor Joseph Chacra and Sons, Tony Chacra, confirmed that “Wonder Woman” is still being screened in various Arab countries, including the UAE, Kuwait, and Oman. He said:
It’s very frustrating… They are not harming anyone by banning it . . . except the distributor . . . They are making the movie theaters lose, the employees, the Lebanese economy … What did they get out of this?
As usual for BDS, the ban does not help the Palestinians in any way – because that is not their goal. The goal is simply to harm Israel, by demonizing and delegitimizing the Jewish state based on lies and hatred, even if it’s at a cost to Palestinians or others – in this case, Lebanese.
For Israel, though, BDS cannot dampen the pride that the country has for Gadot. In press conferences, interviews, premieres, and appearances on popular US talk shows, she has consistently charmed all with her warmth, humor, her innate Israeli candor – and her rendition of Hava Nagila while demonstrating kicks from her training for the role.
The Jerusalem Post adds:
The Israeli ad tech start-up Taykey conducted a study of Gadot’s popularity online, and found that a whopping 95% of mentions were positive, with 4% neutral and 1% negative. The start-up noted in a release that such a high figure is unusual “for actors, who are usually controversial, and especially for well-known Israelis.”
What’s especially unusual about it all is that Gadot is open about and unapologetically proud of her country, her Israeli background, Israeli chutzpah, her service as a combat trainer in the IDF, and of soldiers who fought against Hamas in Operation Protective Edge.
Recognizing the unfortunate need for IDF, saying “I wish no country had the need for an army.”
With Gadot’s recognized talents and endearing character, combined with her support for and pride of her country, it is hardly surprising then that Tel Aviv’s renowned skyscrapers complex, the Azrieli Towers lit up with a message for her from home: We are proud of you, Gal Gadot. Our Wonder Woman.
Gal Gadot is a rare example of an Israeli conquering Hollywood, and undoubtedly is currently one of the most famous Israelis in the world. Wonder Woman is the first superhero movie in over a decade with a woman as its title character, has a currently unprecedented 94% rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, and is being hailed as a game-changer for women in film.
So of course Wonder Woman is a natural target for BDS, who cannot allow any Israeli success.
Featured image: YouTube/IGN Azrieli Towers via Facebook/Gal Gadot;
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