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| Demi Lovato visiting the Western Wall (Source: VIN/Instagram) |
Demi Lovato is apparently a superstar of the popular music industry. Her music video on YouTube has an astounding near 148 million views! That is just a few more readers than I get daily. (Just kidding.)
Not that this is earth shattering news, but it is nevertheless always refreshing to hear a popular entertainer singing the praises of Israel. Especially in a world that includes powerful anti Israel groups.
Unfortunately there are popular entertainers that have boycotted Israel because of a propaganda campaign by the virulently anti Israel, BDS. Lavato had apparently never heard of them until now.
It is informative to see what people think about Israel if given the chance to experience it without any preconceptions. Lovato’s visit was done in that context. And that allowed her to have a wonderful experience there. Here comments about it were glowing. VIN offers a brief description of how she viewed her experience:
Among her many stops in the country, the 27-year-old visited the Western Wall and Shalva National Children’s Center, which offers free care and support to people with disabilities and their families. Following her visit to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Center, she wrote, “My heart was absolutely broken in Yad Vashem. This was such a beautiful tribute and a reminder that we can never forget.”
The “Tell Me You Love Me” singer, who said she was raised Catholic but has Jewish roots, was also baptized in the Jordan River.
“There is something absolutely magical about Israel,” wrote Lovato on Instagram. “I’ve never felt such a sense of spirituality or connection to God … something I’ve been missing for a few years now. Spirituality is so important to me … to be baptized in the Jordan river—the same place Jesus was baptized—I’ve never felt more renewed in my life.”
She added, “This trip has been so important for my well-being, my heart and my soul. I’m grateful for the memories made and the opportunity to be able to fill the God-sized hole in my heart. Thank you for having me, Israel.”
This is the Israel that I know. And this is the Israel that objective people will experience. Which is exactly what Lovato did.
That being said - just like any society not everything in Israeli society is perfect. They have their share of problems. Many Palestinians do suffer indignities. That is not arguable. The only real question is whose fault that is. An honest observer will come to the right conclusion which is complex and based on a lot more than the here and now.
But to those ignorant of that truth, the here and now is all they see. Which is that the Israeli government is directly responsible for Palestinian misery. The PA (Palestinian Authority) PR machine works 24/7 to send that message to the world. Despite the fact that it is mostly their own fault their people suffer.
As I’ve said numerous times, Israel has no interest in controlling the lives of its Palestinian inhabitants. They have no interest in seeing them suffer. But that narrative does not work for the PA. What works most can be seen in how they react to their own people that terrorize innocent Israelis. They aggrandize as ‘martyrs’ - those who have been killed by Israelis defending themselves against terror.
Israel therefore has no choice but to have a serious and often harsh preventive security apparatus. The only reason for which is to save innocent Israeli lives. And that means that innocent Palestinians suffer.
Nonetheless the left is quick to buy into a narrative that sees a Palestinian ‘David’ and an Israeli ‘Goliath’. For the left it is obvious who is the victim and who is the victimizer. Looking only at the here and now, they easily buy into the Palestinian narrative about who is at fault. They are going to boycott the Israeli ‘Goliath’ and support ‘the innocent and defenseless little Palestinian ‘David’.
It is no secret that the entertainment industry is filled with leftists. It is a very lopsided majority. So when a popular entertainer like Lovato defies the boycotts - That makes it notable. Her honest impression of Israel was refreshing.
But all that praise did not sit well with the BDS crowd. From JTA:
“Entertainment Tonight” reported that reactions to those posts included criticism from accusing her of promoting or supporting Israel despite the country’s treatment of the Palestinians, and suggested that she was taking a political stance on the conflict.
That generated an apology. Lovato said she didn’t realize that her trip would offend anybody. The BDS crowd got to her.
It’s really too bad that she felt the need to apologize instead of doing some research to find out what’s really going on there. And thereby place the blame where it belongs. But true to the leftist roots of her industry she just went with the criticism believing it was legitimate.
The truth of her trip, however, has come out. It came through in her original comments – uninfluenced by the BDS crowd. Her apology may have been sincere, but it was mistaken - based on a fiction of who is really responsible for Palestinian suffering. That should not be overlooked.
Unfortunately a willing media guided by leftist ideals does overlook it. And that’s too bad.