LOS ANGELES (Press Release)– StandWithUs, the international Israel education organization is extending an invitation for a five-star VIP tour of Israel to Elvis Costello to coincide with his wife Diana Krall’s performance on August 4 at Israel’s Ra’anana Amphitheater. StandWithUs is also offering to work around Costello’s schedule if that date is inconvenient.
The offer is made after Costello suddenly cancelled his June 30 and July 1 performances in Israel, citing “political reasons.” “Misinformation about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is rife, particularly in Costello’s England where the press often misrepresents history and current facts on the ground,” explains Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO of StandWithUs.
“Our mission is to correct this misinformation and educate the public so they can make informed decisions. We would like to do this for Costello whose decision undermines instead of promotes peaceful coexistence. As a celebrity, he has a special responsibility to make sure his public positions are based on accurate information and are fair-minded.”
StandWithUs urges Costello to consult with fellow Brit Paul McCartney who rejected Palestinian and Arab pressure to cancel his 2008 tour, and with Madonna, who called Israel “the energy center of the world” before a crowd of 50,000 Israelis during her performance in 2009.
The StandWithUs tour highlights the challenges Israel faces, the nature of Israeli society, and the efforts it has made to promote peace. “Visitors are often stunned by Israel’s small size and by the short distance between the West Bank heights and Israel’s population centers and Ben Gurion Airport. They suddenly understand Israel’s security concerns and the serious strategic dangers Israel would face if extremists like Hamas took over the West Bank,” observes Michael Dickson, director of the StandWithUs Jerusalem office.
“They are also amazed at how multicultural, free, and vibrant Israeli society is, which contrasts with many media images.”
The tour also includes background about the extremist and violent goals of the terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad that Israel faces, and about the incitement to hate Jews and Israelis that saturates Palestinian society.
“After the tour, many people realize that Palestinian leaders and extremist groups who are backed by Iran are harming the Palestinian people and are the real obstacles to peace, not Israelis who desperately want peace and have been willing to give up parts of their ancient homeland for a better future for Israeli and Palestinian children,” states Rothstein.
StandWithUs will continue to extend the invitation so that Costello can become a voice for peace and understanding instead of a voice for continuing misinformation, divisiveness, and hate.
StandWithUs is a nine-year old, international, non-profit Israel education organization that ensures that Israel’s side of the story is told in communities, campuses, libraries, the media and schools through brochures, speakers, conferences, missions to and from Israel, and thousands of pages of Internet resources that are distributed globally.
Based in Los Angeles, the organization has offices across the U.S., in Israel and the UK. SWU was founded in 2001 in response to the public’s need and desire for more information about the Arab-Israeli conflict. StandWithUsCampus helps college students challenge anti-Israel bias.
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Preceding provided by StandWithUs