Rabbi slams celebs for festival boycott

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles rabbi says movie stars Jane Fonda and Danny Glover support the "destruction of Israel" if they boycott the Toronto International Film Festival.

TMZ.com reported Friday that Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center opposes a letter sent to festival officials announcing a boycott of the Sept. 10-19 film festival because it will include a program about Tel Aviv's 100th anniversary.

The letter states the program honoring the Israeli city "ignores the suffering of thousands of former residents and descendants."

Fonda and Glover, along with playwright Eve Ensler, are among those who have signed their names to the boycott letter.

Hier, who has earned two Academy Awards for his documentaries, applauded the festival program and criticized those who oppose it.

"Whoever would sign on to a campaign like this would support the complete destruction of Israel," Hier said.

"People who support letters like this are people who do not support a two-state solution. By calling into question the legitimacy of Tel Aviv, they are supporting a one-state solution, which means the destruction of the state of Israel."