More than 1,200 entertainment industry figures have signed a new open letter rejecting the recent high-profile pledge by thousands of their peers to boycott Israeli films over the war in Gaza.
Stars including Liev Schreiber, Mayim Bialik, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Debra Messing are among those who have lent their names to the letter, which says the previous pledge “advocates” for “the erasure of art”.
“We know the power of film,” begins the letter, which was released on Thursday by nonprofit bodies Creative Community for Peace and The Brigade. “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.”
It accuses the pledge circulated by Film Workers for Palestine and signed by stars including Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, Olivia Colman and Mark Ruffalo of being not “an act of conscience” but rather “a document of misinformation that advocates for arbitrary censorship and the erasure of art. To censor the very voices trying to find common ground and express their humanity, is wrong, ineffective and a form of collective punishment.”
The open letter makes the point that much of the Israeli film and TV industry are “often the loudest critics of government policy” – and frequently penalised by them for this. Last week, the winner of Israel’s own academy awards, The Sea – about a Palestinian boy who risks death to go to the beach in Tel Aviv – was submitted as the country’s entry to the Oscars. This led to the Israeli sports and culture minister vowing to cut funding from the awards.
“When artists boycott fellow artists based solely on their country of origin, it is blatant discrimination and a betrayal of our role as storytellers,” added Messing in a statement.
The initial pledge was published on 8 September and was signed by some 1,200 professionals – rising overnight to 4,000 and now standing at around 5,000 – who vowed not to work with Israeli film institutions they say are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”.
“As film-makers, actors, film industry workers and institutions, we recognise the power of cinema to shape perceptions,” the pledge reads. “In this urgent moment of crisis, where many of our governments are enabling the carnage in Gaza, we must do everything we can to address complicity in that unrelenting horror.”
In the immediate wake of the pledge, many in the Israeli industry expressed considerable disquiet about the boycott, with representatives from the country’s producing, directing, screenwriting and documentary divisions saying the move was misguided and would only “deepen the darkness”.
The following week, studio Paramount also condemned the boycott in a statement which read: “Silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace. The global entertainment industry should be encouraging artists to tell their stories and share their ideas with audiences throughout the world. We need more engagement and communication – not less.”
To our fellow artists and the global film community,
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 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.
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.
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.
The pledge uses nebulous terms like “implicating” and “complicity.” Who will decide which Israeli film-makers 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 film-makers 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 weaponised and tied to lies and discrimination. This pledge erases dissenting Israeli voices, legitimises falsehoods, and shields Hamas from blame.
If you want peace, call for the immediate release of the remaining hostages. Support film-makers who create dialogue across communities. Stand against Hamas.
Let art speak the whole truth.
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.