Spilt milk

SPAIN’S two most international film stars, Oscar-winning Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, put their names to an uncompromising statement about the Gaza bombings.  

The open letter blaming Israel for the latest hostilities was issued by the Spanish film industry and also signed by another Oscar-winner, Pedro Almodovar.

While the letter generally reflected non-official Spanish thinking, it was badly received by the social media and the Hollywood film industry.   No doubt that is why Cruz and Bardem promptly backtracked. 

“I’m not an expert on the situation,” said the actress in a damage-limitation letter to the newspaper America Today.

She and her husband are experts in advancing their careers and have now learnt that in Hollywood anti-Zionism is unfailingly equated with anti-Semitism.  Whatever their personal feelings, they are unlikely to mention Gaza, Israelis and Palestinians in the same breath or the near future.