Anti-Israel groups urge stars to snub Oscars travel gift

Bosses at a clutch of anti-Israel organisations have urged Oscar nominees to reject a USD 55,000 trip to Israel offered in a gift bag to be handed out at this year's Academy Awards ceremony.
The groups, led by Jewish Voices for Peace & the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, have taken out a full-page advert in the Los Angeles Times asking Academy Award nominees to snub the Israel gift package in a bid to protest the conflict between the nation and neighbouring Palestine, reported Telegraph.
The ad has upset officials at other organisations, who are trying to find a solution to the stand-off in the Middle East.

Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) leaders claim the organisations behind the gift snub idea are "part of the movement to boycott Israel and discourage honest dialogue that might lead toward a peaceful resolution".
"They spread false allegations of apartheid which demonize one side in a complicated conflict, while absolving the other of responsibility for such issues as incitement and terrorism," a statement from the CCFP read.
Offering up an alternative to refusing the trip to Israel, the activists insist the more people who are given the opportunity to visit Israel and interact with Israelis, "the greater the likelihood that such people will have a better understanding of the complicated reality that is the Israeli/Palestinian conflict".

"We hope that some of the nominees and winners will take advantage of this opportunity to visit Israel - or decide to visit the country on their own - given that the Holy Land is an amazing part of the world rich with diversity, history and beauty," they added.