The actor Sean Penn has taken his fair share of abuse here for consorting with the likes of George Galloway (that apparently went nowhere) and Hugo Chavez.
So I was pleasantly surprised to read in Haaretz:
In a meeting held last week in Los Angeles between Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and Sean Penn it was agreed that the State of Israel would collaborate with the American actor and director in aid efforts at disaster zones across the globe.
Penn stands at the head of a humanitarian association that offers aid to victims of the Haiti earthquake as well as other disasters around the world. Penn resides in Haiti for four months of the year offering aid to the locals who are still affected by the earthquake.
It was in Haiti that Penn became familiar with Israeli aid officials who still operate in Haiti to this day.
In the meeting with Penn, Ayalon invited the renowned actor to visit Israel. Penn accepted the invitation and it was decided that during his trip he would make a visit to MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation and to Magen David Adom and would examine how best to collaborate with Israeli aid organizations. At first cooperation would focus on Haiti, but would then expand to other countries.
The visit will take place in a few months and according to Penn, will be his first to the Holy Land, in spite of the fact that his father is Jewish and would be happy to cooperate with Israel on humanitarian aid efforts.
Speaking to Ayalon Penn praised Israel and said that in Haiti Israel demonstrated amazing capabilities and was the first country at the scene of the disaster working with a great deal of efficiency.
Apparently Penn has not observed any of the rampant organ-harvesting alleged by some of Israel’s enemies.
Penn surely will come under pressure from some of the BDS usual suspects. He deserves our support. Let’s hope he starts to wise up on some other matters too.
