Natalie Portman

[candysays]

Nuharoo said:

Yet again I find it interesting she goes to school in Israel, but at the same time she doesn't love Israel so much she is willing to train and serve in the Israeli Defence Force.

I don't see the connection. I love my country, but I would never join its army. I don't think one has anything to do with the other.

[jaghetersimon]

If you're Israeli, it has EVERYTHING to do with it. Everyone in Israel has to do the army--if she considers herself Israeli, she should do her duty as all other Israelis do. If you know Israeli culture at all, you'll know the importance of doing your military service.

[rosetta]

You guys got me curious and I did a little searching on the natalie/army issue. Here's some stuff I found:

From here:

"I am an Israeli. I was born in Jerusalem and I speak fluent Hebrew. I have strong feelings about my people and my country. I've been considered joining the Israeli Army, though, as heart, I am kind of a pacifist."

From here:

In it, Natalie said, laughing, "I am not a 100 percent Israeli because I dodged the draft. I got the summons last year and got out of it." But then the host of the show read the following response from the Israeli Army Press Secretary - "Since Miss Portman left Israel before the age of 15 with her family, she is exempt from the draft. Any summons she might have received is void." Well, this is something I think you should also post on your site. It appears that Natalie isn't a draft-dodger after all. But the interview is not a fake and I think that her remark was not a well-thought-of one. I checked with a lawyer and he confirmed that an Israeli citizen who left Israel before the age of 15 with his/her family and has been living abroad permanently since then is AUTOMATICALLY exempt from the draft."

..and here:

Because I was born in Israel, every time I visit I have to get a note from the army that says I'm exempt. I thought that meant that I was drafted but that I got out of it, so I said in passing in some stupid interview, 'Yeah, I dodged the draft.' Then it causes this controversy but it turns out you don't even get drafted unless you live in Israel, and I left when I was three. So clearly they weren't wanting me in their army unless I wanted to volunteer. So I don't know.

[foxfair]

I don't think it's been alleged (not here anyway) that she dodged an official draft. But jaghetersimon is right - military service is a huge part of Israeli culture/society, and interpreting Natalie Portman's stridently pro-Israel stance and her failure to serve in the IDF as at least a little questionable is, imo, perfectly reasonable.

[jaghetersimon]

Thanks for your support, Foxfair!

NP is such a moron, it hurts me to read her idiotic quotes. She finds it amusing that she "dodged the draft," and that she gets a notice from the board every time that she's back in Israel? Oh, and she loves her country, but she's a "pacifist"? Does this Harvard educated bim ever take two seconds to think about what the IDF does/is, what the Zionist mission entails, etc.? I'm neither pro- nor anti-Israeli, but I just wonder why she speaks so vacantly and flippantly about the serious issues that dog her country of birth.

She always sounds so vacuous when she discusses her love for Israel. You're not discussing Norway, honey, so you might want to have a more intelligent and informed opinion about the country in question. Most Israelis have something interesting and complex to say about their country, and no, they didn't go to Harvard.

And btw, I'm the same age as NP, so I'm not buying the whole "youth" excuse. She's just spoiled and book smart.

[nuharoo]

Most Israelis have something interesting and complex to say about their country, and no, they didn't go to Harvard.

Most Israelis are growing up in a suicide bombed country that has neighbors clamoring for the extermination of its citizens. They don't have the luxury of making philosophical decisions, such as being a pacifist at heart, but at the same time identifying with the reasons for the cause.

Does this Harvard educated bim ever take two seconds to think about what the IDF does/is, what the Zionist mission entails, etc.?

If she had to live in Israel she would completely understand why they join the military.

I'm neither pro- nor anti-Israeli, but I just wonder why she speaks so vacantly and flippantly about the serious issues that dog her country of birth.

She's been sheltered from it by living her entire late and early adulthood here in America living it up in immense privilege. She hasn't had to deal with Palestinians suicide bombing her school, nor her relatives or parents exploding into bits of flesh from a pipe bomb . So she can easily play the pacifist role while extemporizing about her love for her people . People in Israel join the military so they can defend their country at all times, should a war or attack break out . She's spent her entire, er, most of her life partying and enjoying herself like most American kids. She doesn't grow up with the constant strain of living moment to moment worrying if when she steps outside that she'll get attacked . So I finish with fuck Natalie Portman!

[colette]

Let's be careful not to turn this thread into a philosophical discussion about Israel/Zionism.

[loulou]

I don't see it as such a big deal. She was born in Israel, her dad is Israeli I believe and mother American. She moved to USA when she was 3. But she was still born in Israel and she'll be half-Israeli no matter what. So she didn't go to the army, big deal, she haven't even lived there except when she studied there for a while. They have their rules and according to them she's exempt. She can still love the country IMO. It's only when the reporters think her Israeliness is reason number 1037 why she's the bestest person in the world that it starts to irk me.

What comes to her interviews, I agree that she says some pretty stupid stuff regularly or at least she's just boring. And that would be fine too if it wasn't for the media people who think everything she says or does is better than anyone has said/done, like evah. That "deaf & mute" article is just hilarious - she reads books ONLY because she's interested in them? *gasp* Bleh.

[tinyshoes]

jaghetersimon said:

Thanks for your support, Foxfair!
And btw, I'm the same age as NP, so I'm not buying the whole "youth" excuse. She's just spoiled and book smart.

Fine, I'll go sit in the corner. Like I said in my previous post, it was a lame excuse to begin with.

[chiqui]

"I've been thinking lately about the widening gap between physical and emotional intimacy, which is just strengthened by computers, communicating all day through a mechanical intermediary," Portman will say.

Like, duh. Who doesn't realize that?

I don't really have an opinion on her, save she was terrible in the Star Wars flicks.