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I knew that Angelina Jolie wrote a new opinion piece for Time magazine about the crisis and war crimes in Darfur, but since I was out most of the day yesterday I only got to read it this morning. A cup of coffee and reading about Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir is an interesting way to start off a Saturday morning, so if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a summary.
She starts off with explaining that the results of the international court’s investigation into Omar al-Bashir may create an international standard for trying war crimes around the world. The president was being tried for seven counts of war crimes as well as five separate crimes against humanity.
Angelina strongly expresses her feelings towards al-Bashir:
Bashir’s response to the indictments was an insult to the international community and the hundreds of thousands who have died in Darfur. He kicked out of his country 16 international aid groups who were desperately trying to save his citizens. He even appointed one of the suspects, Ahmed Haroun, to a committee supposedly investigating human-rights abuses in Darfur. You’ll struggle to find a better illustration of the culture of impunity that reigns in Khartoum.
She also goes on to describe some of the heart-breaking struggles for Darfur’s refugees – girls in the camps being raped, boys being murdered. It’s a kind of life that few of us can ever truly imagine and I’m grateful that Angelina brings so much attention to the issues.
I love when Angelina Jolie writes articles. In a world obsessed with physical appearance, it’s easy to sometimes assume that if someone is incredibly beautiful they might not be all that bright, but Angelina proves you can have beauty and brains at the same time.
I also really liked the way they attributed the article – instead of saying that Angie is an Oscar-winning actress, they ended the article with Jolie is co-chair of the Jolie-Pitt Foundation and a refugee advocate. Very appropriate for the cause at hand.
Read the full article on the Time website. It’s well worth the time.
Enjoy!
Image: Newscom
CHRISTY- Thanks! :)
Enjoy your vacation Joliepittfanatic, I will miss your post for a few weeks.
Mary Ann- Well, if you click on on the title of an article here on PittWatch, it will show the latest comments. To see older comments on a post, just click the either the “1″ or the link that says “More comments” (or “older comments”, I forget which it is.). There was a bug with that at first, but thankfully it has been fixed. :) That will take you to the first page of comments. :)
Anyway, I agree with everyone who has said that it’s wonderful that Angie does all this humanatarian work. It upsets me that the h8ters constantly claim it’s all a publicity stunt. First of all, if there’s any celeb that doesn’t need to worry about publicity, it’s Angelina. Let’s face it, she and Brad are pretty much the two most watched and gossiped about celebs on the planet. I mean, the Jolie-Pitts can barely blow their noses without some tab doing a story about it!
Also, I highly doubt that the UNHCR is interested in helping anyone with publicity. In addition, celebs who want publicity don’t put their lives in danger by going to war-torn countries. A common argument the h8ters try to use is that, whenever Angie goes on a humantarian mission, the public always knows about it (and therefore, in their minds, it must be Angie who lets the news out).
However, that’s not really true. For example, we didn’t know about her trip to Afghanastan last year until she was safely back in the states. Also, having the public know about humatarian missions is pretty much the whole point of humatarian work! Obviously people like Angie want to improve things for people in those war-torn and third world countries, but they also want to raise awareness of just what’s going on in some of those places (Darfur, for example).
Oh, and as usual, it seems to be only Angie that is accused of doing humanatarian work just for publicity. You never hear people say that Brad is only doing the Make It Right Project for publicity!
All of that said, I am leaving on vacation on Monday and will be gone for the rest of the month. I just wanted to make sure you guys knew in advance, so nobody panics when I dissapear for the rest of the month!
I hope she has a strong and tight security on her because this guy Bashir (is he the same guy in A Mighty Heart?) might retaliate and hire a hit man or woman. Just covering all the caution.
She is just fantastic. She is SO caring and loving. I love how un-afraid she is to speak her mind. No wonder Brad is so crazy about her. He and their children must be SO proud of her. Keep up the good work Angie…they need you.
Sherry,
A study some years ago, said people with beautiful faces were often people with high i.q.’s or high precentiles in testing areas. So it is more than likely that a pleasing face has brains. I think Angie shows how she is not just a pretty face…
Angie is a woman of substance with beauty. I’m glad to be a part of group of people who admire what she does best, acting in front of the camera & most specially help others & make the world aware what’s going on in other parts of the world.She is such a good role model to others. May God always guide & protect her. God bless the Jolie-Pitt’s.
Such an accomplished woman :)
Truly an amazing woman!!!
She really cares about important things.She proves that every day.
I really am proud to be her fun!!!
Thank you Sherry!!!
Angelina jolie is AMAZING. This woman continues to surprise and inspire me, as well as the rest of her fans. I am so proud to be a fan of hers, because I’ve therby been able to find out more about humanitarian issues around the world. For this, I will be forever grateful to her. I hope something is done about this situation in Darfur, because attrocities committed ANYWHERE, is a danger to people EVERYWHERE!
Thanks for posting, Sherry. In a former workplace, we used to do occasional auctions of items and donate the proceeds to a rotating array of charities. We always brought in more money when the donation was headed to animal-welfare agencies. My theory was, it is easier for us to be compassionate toward “innocent” animals, rather than people, who may in some way be responsible for what’s happening to them. (I’m an animal lover, too, so don’t get me wrong–the voiceless need someone to speak on their behalf!)
I admire Angie for taking up the cause of people in other nations whose suffering could easily go unreported and ignored, especially with the collapse of the news reporting industry. There are fewer investigators out there looking into situations like Darfur. Angie can direct attention to Darfur just by talking and writing about it.
It’s also why I admire Brad for taking up the cause of New Orleans. Otherwise, people would forget about Katrina and how our national leaders stood by and let the city drown, with its poorest citizens trapped and unaided. Here’s to Brad and Angie!
Nice post Christy. I totally agree.
Just a reminder that June 20th is World Refugee Day. I know you all probably have seen this before, but I thought I’d post Angie’s World Refugee Day message from last year.
It’s short but beautifully done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3h-Yrf1GmI
Off topic question: I use to love to receive all new Pittwatch comments in my e-mail, and I know that Sherry is trying to resolve this issue. But can anyone tell me if there is a simple way to go right to new comments, rather than have to look through all of them. As you can tell I am not that knowledgeable about computers. Thanks
I have so much respect for this wonderful woman. So happy that she is finally being respected for all the good works she does. I along with so many others here at Pittwatch are tired of the same old rotten stories week after week. This woman will do many other wonderful things in the coming years.
out of all the celebrities out there who also do good deeds, i could say Angie is the most impressive. she doesn’t just donate money and do charity but she tries to be aware of what is happening and be involve in such cases and is not afraid to speak out of what she think is right because she really wants to help and make a difference. she is very inspiring.
First of all, let me apologize to everyone for my knee jerk response to the previous post about Angie and Brad’s rep’s confirmation that they are not splitting. It was an ill-concieved response and not worthy of this glorious site. No excuses.
God Bless Angie for her intelligent contributions to refugee issues. She is a person who “knows her stuff” about refugees and is not afraid to speak her mind. I remember the comment that Bashir was glaring at her during the trial. She is an awesome voice for those who are helpless.
day=say* typo… But you guys get the point anyway ;)
I think she’s (Angelina) more active in these matters than we might think, or at least than the common media reports. As C h r i s t y mentioned, focus is on rumours about their personal lives instead.
It would be so interesting to read m o r e about these things! Thank you ever so much Sherry :)
The Darfur-region in Sudan is in all respects still very much a humanitarian catastrophy, as Angelina very correctly points out. And it’s sad, to day the least, that it has (once again) dropped off the radar. It will be very interesting to read what the CIJ will conclude.
Reading some comments in other sites questioning AJ’s every move or her motive of adopting children & now her Time’s article on Darfur made me realize one thing…that indeed she’s powerful enough to even catch the attention of haters.
I mean, come on, it’s ridiculous that AJ is now being blamed for everyone’s misery (personal or economic) just because almost everything, or if not, everything about AJ turned OK.
I will not be surprised if those haters think the root cause of global recession is Angelina Jolie!!!
Some people are consumed by their envy so much that they couldn’t believe that there’s someone who is very famous, very smart and incredibly genetically-blessed person is also able to balance every aspect of her life so well: charity work/ advocacy, family & career.
Because of ENVY, they develop this HATRED and unfairly CALL HER NAMES. They judge her. They question her kindness, her purity of the heart. They merely do not want to see such kind of a person who is content as she has everything in life which subconsciously they want to have and want to be in the first place. Instead of being inspired to what AJ has accomplished in life and to better their own lives as well, they rather insult her & destroy her reputation.
It is not surprising if AJ most often topped every list there is and the most recent is the annual Forbes Most Powerful Celebrity in the world!! Not that she cares of any list with her name being on top, AJ is certainly counting her blessings. In spite of accolades, successes and recognitions she earned, she remains to live her life not minding what people or cynics say. She remains to be in focus and humble at the same time.
To the haters or cynics of AJ, I hope they will not die with envy! I hope they will not be forever be miserable for the rest of their life just because AJ IS NOT.
I thank the day AJ was born (June 4, 1975) as she is someone who became a very good role model to everyone, to all generations.
Thanks Sherry for bringing this Article over, While we are all a buzz about breakup and rumors these are the things that matters,this what Angie tries to bring attention to, suffering and bringing to JUSTICE THE BAD GUY WHO MAKE OTHERS LIVES A LIVING HELL. This is this why pepole take notice, this is why she is so interesting,this is a part of why I love her and I believe why others do love her too.