Hollywood pro-Israel artist response to boycotters surprisingly blunt: "antisemitic" ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Friday, September 26, 2025

Hollywood pro-Israel artist response to boycotters surprisingly blunt: "antisemitic"

When I first read the headline that a lot of Hollywood stars responded to the pledge by their fellow artists to boycott Israel with an open letter, I assumed it would be a fairly restrained response about how Israeli filmmakers are pluralistic and support Palestinian films and have nothing to do with the Israeli government.

I was pleasantly surprised that this letter, signed by 1,200 artists, went beyond that and called the pledge antisemitic and contrary to all supposed principles of free speech. It did not pull punches.

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 filmmakers 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 filmmakers 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 weaponized and tied to lies and discrimination. This pledge erases dissenting Israeli voices, legitimizes falsehoods, and shields Hamas from blame.

If you want peace, call for the immediate release of the remaining hostages. Support filmmakers 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.

The press release accompanying this letter also says that the anti-Israel pledge is "a de facto attempt to silence Jewish stories and ostracize Israeli filmmakers." It included quotes from artists like this:

Actress Rebecca De Mornay said: “Film institutions engage with countries all over the world, including those with serious controversies, yet Israel alone is singled out and condemned—for defending itself in a war it didn’t start, for trying to free hostages still being held, and for confronting an enemy still intent on its destruction. Boycotting Israeli film institutions isn’t a stand for justice, it’s a thinly veiled double-standard for Jews, and a hypocritical, unjust punishment of Israeli artists and films.”

Usually such letters need to be watered down to attract more signatures. This one did not.

It would be great if some of those who signed the "pledge" read this and publicly renounce their position. But in the end, Hollywood artists might call themselves brave, but very few actually are.