Scheduled to visit the country in January 2019, the former 'Roseanne' star explains her hope to be able to use her voice to fight back against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

• Dec 26, 2018

AceShowbiz - Comedienne Roseanne Barr will be heading to Israel next month, January 2019, to address the nation's parliament.

The former "Roseanne" star, who is of Jewish descent, is planning a tour of the country and will speak at the Israeli Knesset (parliament) about rising anti-Semitism in the world on 30 January.

Barr's trip is sponsored by her spiritual adviser Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, and she hopes to use her platform to fight back against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for a cultural boycott of Israel in support of the Palestinian people as the conflict between the two countries continues to rumble on.

"I very much look forward to my trip as a lover of Israel and friend of Rabbi Shmuley and ambassador of (his) World Values Network," she says. "While I intend to further my own knowledge of Jewish and Israeli history, I have important work to do as a voice against the insidious and anti-Semitic BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement."

"We are in an age where Israeli innovation is ascendant and changing the world in areas of medicine, technology, media and the arts," she adds. "Israel is an oasis of openness, freedom, democracy and tolerance amidst a desert of brutality from an age gone by. I want to shout this from the heights of the Galilee to the halls of the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel's capital city."

The BDS movement has gained momentum in recent years as vocal supporters, like Pink Floyd star Roger Waters, have successfully urged artists like Lana Del Rey and Lorde to reconsider playing concerts in Israel.