At the end of July, The Hollywood Reporter relayed that actors Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, among others, signed an open letter denouncing Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza strip as “genocide.”
Now that same publication is reporting that more than 190 Hollywood heavies have signed a letter in defense of Israel, from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone to Sarah Silverman.
The list included “actors Kelsey Grammer, Sarah Silverman, Minnie Driver, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Seth Rogen, Josh Charles and Tony Goldwyn; showrunners Aaron Sorkin, Diane English, Mayim Bialik, Doug Ellin and Greg Berlanti; directors Ivan Reitman and William Friedkin.”
The Hollywood Reporter elaborated:
"While we stand firm in our commitment to peace and justice, we must also stand firm against ideologies of hatred and genocide which are reflected in Hamas' charter, Article 7 of which reads, 'There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!' The son of a Hamas founder has also commented about the true nature of Hamas," the statement, headlined "Commitment to Justice and Peace," reads.
"Hamas cannot be allowed to rain rockets on Israeli cities, nor can it be allowed to hold its own people hostage. Hospitals are for healing, not for hiding weapons. Schools are for learning, not for launching missiles. Children are our hope, not our human shields," it added. The statement will appear as an ad in The Hollywood Reporter and other publications next week.
The statement was circulated on Saturday by Lana Melman, director of the Creative Community for Peace organization....
The statement concludes, "We join together in support of the democratic values we all cherish and in the hope that the healing and transformative power of the arts can be used to build bridges of peace."
David Lonner, a board member with Creative Community for Peace, told Deadline.com that media bias can obscure the issue: “There’s been a lot of confusion in the media of what’s actually going in the Gaza strip, but for those of us who go to Israel, it’s not complicated at all. So there’s been a feeling for a while now of how to get a message across and uncomplicate matters, and we think this is a step in the right direction to do that.”
