Look To The Stars News: Jason Flemyng

Stars Speak Out About Gaza In New Video

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:30:00 -0000

A group of British stars have appeared in a new video produced by Amnesty International, speaking out against the bloodshed and violence in Gaza.

Annie Lennox, Thandie Newton, former Monty Python star Terry Jones, comedian Alexei Sayle, filmmaker Mike Figgis, designer Katharine Hamnett and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button actor Jason Flemyng all voice their support for Amnesty’s ongoing efforts to secure justice for both Palestinians and Israelis and make an impassioned call for Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza in the video.

“Right now – this very minute – innocent people like you and me, children like mine and yours, are victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza,” said Thandie Newton in the film. “I want the UK government ready to initiate criminal investigations and carry out prosecutions in their own courts.”

“We’ve had a ceasefire in Gaza, a tentative ceasefire, and we now have the opportunity to get access to over 200,000 civilians who have no access to facilities,” adds Annie Lennox. “Their homes have been pulverized, they have no running water, they have no proper access to medicines, to fuel, to foods. They are desperately and urgently in need of these things and it is essential that the international aid agencies get access to the Gazan people now… In a situation like this, there are no victories. Only victims. What’s important is that we try to find a path to peace.”

More than 1,300 Palestinians died during the Israeli military offensive in December and January, but hundreds of thousands remain in desperate need of aid. It is a very real and heartbreaking humanitarian crisis. Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen hopes the film will encourage people to speak out against the war crimes and pressure the British government to make a stand.

“There’s almost a conspiracy of silence over war crimes in Gaza that’s totally unacceptable,” she said. “Speaking out is one way of trying to stop this horrible cycle of violence beginning all over again.”

Benjamin Button star Jason Flemying also appears in the video.

“This humanitarian crisis is not the result of a natural disaster,” he says in the film. “It is entirely manmade, as the result of extremely stringent Israeli blockades and international sanctions. Over 80% of the population of Gaza now relies on international aid. That compares with 10% a decade ago. The blockade guarantees bloodshed and violence.”

To view the film and learn more about the conflict and how you can help, visit the Amnesty International website.

Goldberg, Keitel Trading for Charity

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 08:40:37 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

On Tuesday, September 11th, celebrity guests will join brokerage firm BGC’s third annual Charity Day, assisting the brokers to raise money for good causes. Stars such as Whoopi Goldberg, Harvey Keitel, Eli Wallach and Yogi Berra will join brokers in conducting real, live trades. 100% of the commissions raised on the day will go to charities such as Blythedale Children’s Hospital, Books for Kids Foundation, Cancer Research Institute, NARSAD Mental Health Research, Project FIND and the Wounded Warrior Project.

A different celebrity will appear on the trading floor every hour, beginning with the New York Jets’ Freeman McNeil at 9 am, Yogi Berra at 10 and Harriet Harris of Desperate Housewives and Frasier at 11. Next to arrive will be Tony Sirico of the Sopranos, who is raising funds for the Wounded Warrior Project. He will be joined by several of the brave service men and women supported by the charity.

At one o’clock, Whoopi Goldberg and Eli Wallach are scheduled to arrive. The rest of the afternoon is scheduled to feature Robert Funaro of The Sopranos; former New York Jet Boomer Esiason, Roy White, formerly of the NY Yankees, former NY Mets’ Ed Kranepool and former NY Knicks’ Earl Monroe along with NY Giants’ lineman Grey Ruegamer and the New York Red Bulls’ Joe Vide.

The above celebrities and charities are set to appear at the firm’s downtown New York trading floor, though the Charity Day is a global event. Celebrities appearing in the London and Paris offices include Sir Alex Ferguson, Rory Bremner, Chris Evans, Lisa Faulkner, Jason Flemyng, Nigel Haver, Sir Steve Redgrave, Stephane Pasquier, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Julien Benneteau.

Charities supported by the trading firm’s offices in Asia, Australia and Europe include: DebRA, Multiple Sclerosis, National Literacy Trust, Sparks, The Peter O’Sullevan Trust, UK Youth, Walk The Walk, Well Child, Wooden Spoon, Bobby Moore Fund, Chance to Shine, Chase, Honey Pot, Winston’s Wish, The Paul Hunter Foundation, Barnardo’s, The Shane Warne Foundation, National Breast Cancer Foundation, Children’s Cancer Foundation, La Licorne and The Solidarity Fund (established to help victims of the fires in Greece).

BGC is a leading inter-dealer brokerage firm affiliated with Cantor Fitzgerald, the company that suffered the heaviest loss of life during the Twin Towers tragedy in New York on September 11th, 2001. BGC is proud to continue its legacy of fundraising on behalf of a wide range of charitable causes. The last two events raised $9 million, all of which was given to charity.

Look To The Stars News: Jason Flemyng

Stars Speak Out About Gaza In New Video

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Goldberg, Keitel Trading for Charity

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