Nearly 200 Hollywood executives and celebrities—including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzennegger, Bill Maher, Sarah Silverman, Kelsey Grammer, Minnie Driver and Roseanne Barr—have added their names to the growing list of people in Hollywood pushing back against the anti-Israel narrative.
Joining together in a group they’ve named Creative Community for Peace, nearly 200 Hollywood players have come out in defense of Israel and condemnation of Hamas, saying though they may disagree on the path to peace in the Middle East, “we do agree that singling out Israel, the only democracy in the region, as a target of cultural boycotts while ignoring the now-recognized human rights issues of her neighbors will not further peace.”
The statement serves in part as a rebuke to those celebrities, like Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, who have criticized Israel's handling of the war in Gaza, and decries the hypocrisy of boycotts that target a country that champions the "democratic values we all cherish."
Here is the group's full anti-boycott petition:
We, the undersigned, are saddened by the devastating loss of life endured by Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza. We are pained by the suffering on both sides of the conflict and hope for a solution that brings peace to the region.
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.
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.
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.
H/T Washington Times.
