Hollywood Stars Pledge to Boycott Israeli Institutions

Hollywood Stars Boycott Israeli Institutions                           

Hollywood Stars Pledge to Boycott Israeli Institutions: "Complicit" in the Gaza War

"For decades, Israel has been engaged in whitewashing and covering up and justifying its war crimes," hundreds of prominent Hollywood film industry professionals have signed a pledge to boycott certain Israeli film institutions, including festivals, broadcasters, and production companies, on the grounds that they are "complicit in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people," according to organizers.

The Film Workers for Palestine collective published an open letter signed by Hollywood heavyweights such as Emma Stone, Ayo Edebiri, Ava DuVernay, Olivia Colman, Yorgos Lanthimos, Riz Ahmed, Rob Delaney, Javier Bardem, Tilda Swinton, Cynthia Nixon, and many others. The group said it has collected more than 3,000 signatures from industry professionals since Monday, when it first announced the pledge.

The open letter reads: "As directors, actors, film workers, and institutions, we recognize the power of cinema to shape perceptions. At this critical time of crisis, when many governments are enabling the massacres in Gaza, we must do everything we can to address complicity in this ongoing horror." The group explained that this pledge was inspired by the initiative of "Filmmakers United Against Apartheid," who refused to screen their films in South Africa during the apartheid regime.

It noted that it did not call for a blanket boycott of all film institutions in Israel, but asserted on its website that Israeli public and private broadcasters "have for decades and to this day been engaged in whitewashing Israel's image and covering up and justifying its war crimes." It also stated that major film festivals, including the Jerusalem Film Festival, the Haifa International Festival, and others, "continue to cooperate with the Israeli government at a time when leading experts describe what is happening in Gaza as genocide against Palestinians."