Hollywood now has dueling open letters over the Israel film boycott

Hollywood is divided over the war in Gaza and is expressing it through dueling open letters.

More than 5,000 actors and filmmakers, including Joaquin Phoenix, Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo, signed an open letter on Sept. 9 pledging to boycott Israeli film groups.

Now, more than 1,200 other Hollywood figures, among them Liev Schreiber, Mayim Bialik and Sharon Osbourne, have signed a similar letter rejecting the boycott.

"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," states the letter, which was published on Thursday by the entertainment industry nonprofits Creative Community For Peace and The Brigade.

Condemning the first open letter as "a document of misinformation that advocates for arbitrary censorship and the erasure of art," the signers ask the entertainment industry to "reject this discriminatory and antisemitic boycott call that only adds another roadblock on the path to peace."

The letter goes on to say that the pledge "erases dissenting Israeli voices, legitimizes falsehoods, and shields Hamas from blame."

Addressing the signers of the boycott pledge, the letter urges, "If you want peace, "call for the immediate release of the remaining hostages" and "stand against Hamas."

People who signed the original letter pledged to avoid screening films or working with Israeli film institutions that they allege are "implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people." It was published in five languages by Filmmakers for Palestine – which describes itself as "a call by and for filmmakers and cinema workers to stand for an end to genocide, and for a free Palestine." Israel strongly denies allegations that it is committing genocide in Gaza.

In addition to Phoenix, Bardem and Ruffalo, the original letter was signed by Emma Stone, Gael Garcia Bernal, Alyssa Milano, Olivia Colman, Brian Cox and Ilana Glazer, among many others. Filmmakers included Ava DuVernay, Adam McKay and Yorgos Lanthimos.

In a statement to NPR, Filmmakers for Palestine dismissed the letter from Creative Community for Peace as "nothing more than thinly veiled anti-Palestinian racism."

The new letter has fewer A-list talent among its signatories. But it includes such behind-the-scenes heavyweights as former Paramount Global chair Shari Redstone, Mattel chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz, Will & Grace creator David Kohan, and Fernando Szew, CEO of FOX Entertainment Global.

The letter follows a response to the boycott by Paramount Studios, the only major studio to speak out on the call for a boycott. "Silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace," a statement issued on behalf of Paramount chief communications officer Melissa Zukerman on Sept. 12 reads. "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."

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