THE Lebanese branch of the anti-Israel boycott movement has demanded that country’s government ban the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice because, in the movie, Wonder Woman is played by the Israeli actor Gal Gadot.
Worldwide, the film has box office takings of over $1.2 billion. Many people — including in Lebanon, where the film is already screening — simply want to be entertained and don’t care what nationality an actor in the film might be.
It is significant because anti-Israel campaigners and their supporters like to claim that Israel is becoming increasingly isolated internationally. Yet as millions of cinemagoers worldwide show, the reality is somewhat different.
Developing ties in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and especially Asia — the world’s new economic centre of gravity — show that if anything, Israel’s international reputation and credibility are reaching new heights.
An often-cited claim of Israel’s supposed isolation was the European Union guideline of November 2015 for member countries to label products produced in Israeli settlements separately from those produced in pre-1967 Israel.
Read the full opinion piece by Colin Rubinstein in the Herald Sun