We met a few years ago in Venice during the Film Festival. It was a photo session in a garden. You came toward me in a good mood, looked at me and said: “Wow, you remind me so much of my sister.”

We immediately hit it off. You were friendly, approachable, warm-hearted, interested – more like a buddy than an international superstar. My assistant rolled out a large, bright-red velvet fabric, you lay down on it without hesitation, and the photo session began with a lot of laughter. It was carefree, almost as if we had known each other for a long time. I believe that still comes across in the pictures today.

Perhaps that is precisely why I am writing to you now.

I have been, and remain, a great admirer of your acting. For a long time, I thought my open letter to Tilda Swinton three years ago was all I wanted to say on this subject. But in the meantime, there are many famous people whom I have photographed and appreciated as human beings who have become strangers to me today. Because of Israel. You are one of them.

I see you on social media laughing with your wife, arm in arm. And in the next clip, I see a different face as soon as you talk about Israel: hard, angry, fanatical. I ask myself: What is happening to you?

It is now the story of Shalev Biton that makes me write to you.

Biton is an Israeli soldier who was seriously wounded in the war near Gaza and lost a leg. During his rehabilitation, he encountered a problem that millions of amputees know: if you only need one shoe, you still have to buy a pair. So he approached Adidas with a simple idea.

The company listened to him. Adidas is now making it possible, for the first time, to buy individual shoes. A small change for a worldwide company like Adidas, a major relief for people with amputations – regardless of whether they are Israeli, Palestinian, Muslim, Christian or Jewish. At the same time, Adidas could serve as an example -better role model- of how to build bridges.

And yet, you are calling for a boycott of Adidas.

I do not understand that.

You recently said: “Love is always, always, always stronger than hate.” That is precisely why this story should be yours, too. A wounded Israeli is using his own fate to make life a little easier for other people. He does not ask about nationality or religion. He is building a small bridge.

Why do you want to tear down this particular bridge?

For me, that is the fundamental problem with your public position. You say you want to help the Palestinians. But your anger is directed almost exclusively at Israel. Where is the same passion when it comes to Hamas? Where is it when Palestinians themselves protest against its rule? Where is it when people in Gaza demand a life free from religious fanaticism, terrorism and oppression?

In 2019 and 2023, Palestinians protested against Hamas under the slogan “We want to live.” Even later, there were repeatedly people in Gaza who stood up against the Islamists despite enormous personal danger. Many of them were persecuted and murdered........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)