Celebrities Mobilize for Peace
U. Woudenberg - 13.10.2002 23:21
Against the war plans of Bush:
Barbra Streisand isn't the only celebrity banging the drums of peace.
Hollywood, which banded together after Sept. 11 to raise funds, flags and patriotic fervor, is mobilizing an anti-war front to protest President Bush ( news - web sites)'s plans for an attack on Iraq. Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Danny Glover, Martin Sheen, Jessica Lange, Ed Asner, Joanne Woodward and Jane Fonda are among the list of U.S. artists speaking out against the Bush administration's policies.
It's a dramatic departure from last year, when Republican leaders and Hollywood officials worked together to increase the entertainment industry's support for the war on terrorism.
Dozens of celebrities have signed the ''Not In Our Name'' anti-war declaration that ran as a paid advertisement in the Los Angeles Times on Friday and last month in The New York Times. Playwright Tony Kushner, filmmaker Oliver Stone, actor Ossie Davis, performer Mos Def, writer Gore Vidal and historian/author Howard Zinn are among the signers of the declaration. It also opposes threats to civil liberties and the government's treatment of Arab-Americans.
On Sunday, the Not In Our Name project held an anti-war rally in New York City's Central Park that drew Sheen, Robbins and Sarandon. Sheen, who plays the U.S. president on the NBC drama The West Wing, urged protesters to put pressure on their congressional representatives to oppose Bush's quest for the all-clear to wage war.
''I don't think that a military expansion of violence is the solution,'' Sarandon told reporters in Scotland recently. Sarandon also has narrated a documentary about the importance of protecting post-Sept. 11 civil liberties. Bruce Springsteen and Zinn also lent their support to First Monday 2002, which premieres at college campuses nationwide today.
Compared with Britain, where 150,000 people and celebrities held an anti-war rally in London last month, a peace movement has been slow to build here.
Not In Our Name rally organizer Mary Lou Greenberg says U.S. celebs fear being labeled anti-American. ''In this country, when Bush says 'You're either with us or with the terrorists,' that's a deliberate effort to discourage people from speaking out,'' she says.
''As a publicist, I would advise my clients to stay away from the topic,'' says R.J. Garis, a publicist and damage control expert.
Lange spoke against war while in Madrid last week. The actress said she ''hates'' Bush and said his call for an attack on Iraq is ''unconstitutional, immoral and illegal.''
Other celebrities have made a concerted effort not to take sides. At the Italian premiere of Minority Report, director Steven Spielberg and star Tom Cruise said they could not support Saddam Hussein ( news - web sites) if Bush's reasons for attacking are accurate. But after some newspapers said the superstars were Bush backers, Spielberg quickly sent out a news release: ''It was never my intention to give an endorsement.''
Caesar G. Soriano USA TODAY
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