In response to the 4,000 film industry professionals who have pledged to boycott Israeli institutions that are “implicated in genocide,” 1,200 other entertainment leaders have signed their own open letter — this one rejecting that initial notion as “antisemitic propaganda” and “the erasure of art.”
“We know the power of film. We know the power of story. That is why we cannot stay silent when a story is turned into a weapon, when lies are dressed up as justice and when artists are misled into amplifying antisemitic propaganda,” the group of artists shared in a Thursday open letter through Creative Community for Peace and the Brigade.
Signatories include Liev Schreiber, Mayim Bialik, Gene Simmons, Debra Messing, Sharon Osbourne, Greg Berlanti, Jerry O’Connell, Howie Mandel, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lisa Edelstein, Erin Foster, Anthony Edwards, Rebecca De Mornay, Sherry Lansing, Haim Saban and more.
“The pledge circulated under the banner of ‘Film Workers for Palestine’ is not an act of conscience. It is a document of misinformation that advocates for arbitrary censorship and the erasure of art,” the letter continues. “To censor the very voices trying to find common ground and express their humanity, is wrong, ineffective and a form of collective punishment.”
“Israel’s film industry includes groundbreaking, celebratory and critical projects about Palestinians and Jews, which many of you have lauded and celebrated. Israel’s film community is restless, argumentative and independent, where directors challenge ministers and many of the very festivals you target, consistently program dissent,” it adds. “Israel’s entertainment industry is a vibrant hub of collaboration between Jewish and Palestinian artists and creatives, who work together every single day to tell complex stories that entertain and inform both communities and the world. Israeli film institutions are not government entities. They are often the loudest critics of government policy.”
This new letter comes after celebrities like Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Olivia Colman, Melissa Barrera, Javier Bardem, Ava DuVernay, Ayo Edebiri, Lily Gladstone, Hannah Einbinder, Ilana Glazer, Tilda Swinton and Riz Ahmed pledged not to do work with Israeli festivals, cinemas, broadcasters or production companies that are implicated in the “apartheid against the Palestinian people,” through Film Workers for Palestine.
Thursday’s CCFP letter further notes, “The pledge uses nebulous terms like ‘implicating’ and ‘complicity.’ Who will decide which Israeli filmmakers and film institutions are ‘complicit’? A McCarthyist committee with blacklists? Or is ‘complicity’ just a pretext to boycott all Israelis and Zionists — 95% of the world’s Jewish population — no matter what they create or believe? History warns us. Censorship has been used to silence filmmakers before: Nazi Germany’s propaganda machine, Soviet censorship and even Hollywood’s own blacklists. Every time it was dressed up as virtue. And every time it was oppression. Every time, its targets expanded.”
“We know that many of you have good intentions and believe you are standing for peace. But your names are being weaponized and tied to lies and discrimination. This pledge erases dissenting Israeli voices, legitimizes falsehoods and shields Hamas from blame,” the message continues.
“If you want peace, call for the immediate release of the remaining hostages. Support filmmakers who create dialogue across communities. Stand against Hamas. Let art speak the whole truth,” the group concludes. “We call on all our colleagues in the entertainment industry to reject this discriminatory and antisemitic boycott call that only adds another roadblock on the path to peace.”
