The prophet Isaiah spoke about existing in the moment of now, says actress Sharon Stone

Actress Sharon Stone was among the celebrity guests at Israeli Prime Minister’s 90th birthday gala last week, and participated in the fifth annual Presidential Conference, Facing Tomorrow.  During her visit to the country, she made an appearance at Hadassah University Hospital’s Ein Kerem campus and shared her views of the accessibility of peace in the Middle East.

During her visit to the hospital, Stone met with sick children, as well as with the head of the hospital’s paediatric AIDS unit.  Stone has long been a contributor to HIV/AIDS research and has worked to raise awareness of the disease.

She extended her visit beyond the scheduled hour so that she could meet with each child individually.  She told the young patients that she met, “Do you know what’s the smartest thing? Loving,” explaining that if all individual citizens want to make peace and find happiness, the government will have no choice but to act accordingly.  She expressed her own love for the country, people and culture of Israel.

Stone compared peace in the Middle East to going to the gym, saying “When do you not want to be fat? Today? When do you want to be in shape? Today? When do you want to stop being mean? How about today?”

In addition to visiting the hospital, Stone was presented with the Isaiah Award for Distinguished Leadership from the organization Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal (UIA).  In accepting the award, she commented on how she relates to Isaiah’s vision, “The prophet Isaiah spoke about existing in the moment of now,” although it is unclear to what precisely she was referring.

Stone and President Peres co-hosted a panel discussion with bloggers from a variety of Arab countries during the final day of the conference.  She is the arts and culture chairwoman of a peace youth movement called YaLa.  During the panel, she echoed the sentiments mentioned above, saying, “Each and every one of you is a leader, a leader of that thing that is right within you, a leader who goes against the status quo. A leader who will say, beyond anything else: I want love. A love that will come to me, a love that will come to my fellow man, a love that will lift me up, a love that is visionary. That visionary love is a voice for peace. That visionary love is a voice for the future.”