The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

TakePart Gang:

Everything I Know About Climate Change, I Learned in the Fifth Grade by Martin Musatov

When Torture Is Condoned, Is FISA That Shocking? by Wendy Cohen

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Nicole Hughes:

Baltimore Woman Turns Tragedy Into Art

Why Don’t We Do More to Stop Global Warming?

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Andy Kondrat:

Foods You Should and Shouldn’t Buy Organic

Paper or Plastic? The Environmental Impact

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Jon Popham:

The Energy Independence Bill: A Filibuster Odyssey

“Bruno” Fools Mossad Agent

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Gina Telaroli:

While Iran Tests Missiles, Test These 5 Iranian Films

Mao’s Out, Time to Capitalize On the Olympics

Bruno, the gay Austrian journalist character of comic Sascha Baron Cohen, is the talk of Israel after fooling a former Mossad agent in footage for his new film. The movie will feature one of Cohen’s signature bits - refined on his famous Da Ali G Show, and the worldwide hit movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” - where former Israeli spy now turned political analyst Yossi Alpher (shown in photo inset) was tricked into what he thought was a serious interview with Bruno, who was sold to him as a “German rock star” and the perfect bridge between political issues and youth culture.

Highlights in the interview included the former spy trying to keep a level head for several minutes on end while Bruno failed to grasp the difference between Hamas and Hummus, claiming the Palestinian organization was “too high in carbohydrates”, and Bruno joining hands with Alper for a song, which Bruno thought was about the Middle East conflict, entitled “Jews and Hindus”. Cohen’s new movie “Bruno” is set to be released in May of 2009.

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Combining literature, theatre and music, a group of passionate folks are trying to promote a non-violent and healthy world.

Circle of Health International (COHI) is an international non-governmental organization that seeks to empower women’s health care professionals in crisis settings. Founded in 2004, COHI currently works in Louisiana, Israel/Palestine, Tanzania, Tibet, Sri Lanka, and Sudan.COHI operates on the tenets of consensus-based decision-making, non-violence, and the grassroots model of social change.

On March 26th a group of New York based artists and activists will produce a performance of A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer to support COHI’s efforts. Edited by V-day founder Eve Ensler, A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer features pieces from “Until the Violence Stops,” the international tour that brings the issue of violence against women and girls to the forefront of our consciousness. The collection includes pieces by Maya Angelou, Kathy Najimy,Edward Albee, Alice Walker and many more.

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Julian Schnabel, the man who prefers to be called a painter and not a film directer, is having a film career that most who call themselves directors would die for. He’s nominated for an Oscar for directing The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (which I loved!!!), his Lou Reed documentary will play at SXSW in March and his next project is starting to come together:

The painter/director will try to bring peace to the Mideast. Schnabel is headed to Israel in June to scout locations for a movie he’ll shoot next year. “It’s based on a book by a woman named Rula Jebreal, who is an Israeli Palestinian,”

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The Berlin Film Festival is underway! The 58th Berlinale commenced on February 7th and will run 10 days through the 17th. Folks are already starting to talk about the films playing at the fest and I’m going to do my best to tell you about some of the more interesting pieces they are talking about.

Over at GreenCineDaily (a great film blog) their review of a documentary by the name of Sharon caught my eye. Dror Moreh’s Sharon tells the story of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Sharon was notoriously known for going from supporting the gruesome 1980 attacks on Lebanon to actually working for peace between Israel and Palestine towards the end of his career. The film looks at what influenced this change of heart, as

Sharon was seen by his reactionary constituency, who supported his murderous war in Lebanon in the early 1980s, to have betrayed his closest allies.

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Israel has ordered the closing of all crossings into the gaza strip, which had already been limited, but now blocks the arrival of humanitarian supplies from the U.N. So it looks like the people in Gaza won’t get any food this weekend. Pessimists like the U.N.’s Christopher Gunness, predict “This can only lead to the deterioration of an already dire situation… can only lead to the further radicalisation of a depressed and demoralised people”. But Shlomo Dror, the Israeli Defense Minister justified Israel’s response, which President Olmert promises will be “without compromise, without concessions and without mercy” by saying “It’s unacceptable that people in Sderot [Israel] are living in fear ever day and people in the Gaza Strip are living life as usual.” By “life as usual” Dror means having your access to hospitals and medical treatment,fuel and electricity, and schools and universities blocked. He is referring, I’m sure, to the life as usual violations of international law which Gaza already faced before these latest closures.Want to help end the use of cluster bombs which often fail to detonate, and, like land mines go off later, maiming and killing civilians? Tell your Senator to support Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act introduced by Senators Leahy and Feinstein .

George Bush will make his first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories as president on Wednesday. The president also confirmed with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot that he foresees a peace agreement being signed between the Palestinians and Israelis before he departs from the area.

National security advisor, Stephen Hadley, says that Bush is hoping to expand on the “advances” made during the peace talks in Annapolis. His three-fold strategy for a peace agreement includes creating a shared vision of a future Palestinian state, helping Palestinians to build more effective security measures, and improving Arab-Israeli relations across the Middle East.