INTERESTING NEW ADS TO FIGHT ANTI-SEMITISM

Ads make Jews of Beyonce and Leo
Beyonce Knowles is Jewish. So is Leonardo DiCaprio.

Or at least they're ready to go on-air and say they are, to help fight anti-Semitism.

Several stars of the pop charts and the silver screen have agreed in principle to film public service announcements denouncing worldwide anti-Semitism and identifying with the Jewish people. MTV is donating studio time for filming the ads, which are to appear in Europe, the US and even Israel.

The "I am a Jew" ads are the latest idea from the New York-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which works to promote cross-cultural dialogue.

Rabbi Marc Schneier and Russell Simmons are the driving force behind the campaign, and the president and chairman of the FFEU, respectively. Schneier, the author of Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Jewish Community, holds senior positions in national Jewish organizations, and has led the foundation's efforts to improve ties between Jews and other minority groups in America.

Simmons, the cofounder of the Def Jam record label, is widely regarded as the man who, more than any other, pushed hip-hop music and culture into the American mainstream. He runs booming entertainment and fashion enterprises and uses his influence to promote numerous initiatives against poverty, inner-city violence and racism.

"The man has such an abiding passion for black-Jewish relations," Schneier said of Simmons.

As an entertainment mogul, he also has plenty of pull.

Rumors that Denzel Washington and Ricky Martin, Knowles, DiCaprio and other big-name stars had expressed interest in the project have Entertainment Tonight and VH-1 eager to cover the story, Simmons told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. And that was before he had a chance to talk to Eminem.