Silverman roars Presidential Conference with laughter
“I’m so excited to be in such an old city, Jerusalem is like, at least 30 years old?” American comedian tells Channel 1 reporter.
By KAROLYN COORSH, JPOST.COM STAFFSarah Silverman 311(photo credit: JPOST.COM STAFF)
American comedian Sarah Silverman was a hit as one of the highlighted speakers at the Israeli Presidential Conference kick-off on Tuesday, covering topics such as Barack Obama’s presidency and the Jewish-Palestinian conflict with her trademark no-holds-barred brand of humor. Speaking after Colombian pop star Shakira, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, US professor Dan Arielly and WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell at the “My recipe for a better tomorrow” session, Silverman had the audience at the Jerusalem Convention Center roaring with laughter during an onstage interview with Channel 1 host, Yigal Ravid. RELATED:Shakira: Education is best strategy for stability, peaceMason takes on Silverman in Jewish comics' presidential video warsSilverman began the interview by speaking about her first visit to Jerusalem. “I’m so excited to be in such an old city, I don’t know everything about Israel, but I know Jerusalem is like, at least 30 years old?”
Quipping back and forth with Ravid about why some people don’t like her, Silverman said she doesn’t let outside forces stop her from inner reflection. She then applied that philosophy to explain how to build a better tomorrow for Israel. “Us as Israelis – let’s pretend I’m Israeli - we have to decide who we want to be, we have to decide what is important to us, the acreage of where we live, or the values of how we live,” she said to applause. Silverman also shared her own ideas for a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. “I think the only real solution is the classic buddy movie formula,” she said. “You take two enemies and they’re forced to work together on some common goal and in the end they realize they’re not that different.” Silverman suggested solar energy is something Jews and Palestinians could work together to promote. “The sun shines directly on this great country, and it can be harvested, it’s not owned by anybody,” she said. “It something the Jews and the Palestinians share and could work together to make the whole world a better place, not just this Middle East stuff, but the whole world. She asked, “What if the onus on them wasn’t to make peace with each other, but to care for the future of the world?” An ardent supporter of US President Barack Obama, Silverman urged audiences to give him a chance since he is a relatively new leader. “He inherited a shitstorm, give him a second,” she said. Ravid reminded her that Obama has already been in office for two years. “Oh yeah, two years is no problem to solve all problems, right Israel?” She responded, triggering laughter and raucous applause from the audience.
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