More than 1,200 Hollywood figures have signed on to boycott Israeli film institutions over their alleged role in the devastation of Palestine, Variety reports.
“We pledge not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions—including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies—that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people,” the Film Workers for Palestine pledge states.
Among the signatories are Emma Stone, Ayo Edebiri, Mark Ruffalo, Ava DuVernay, Aimee Lou Wood, Alyssa Milano, Cynthia Nixon, Ilana Glazer, Brian Cox, and Susan Sarandon.
The group explained the pledge came in response to Palestinian artists urging the global film community to speak out against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
“We answer the call of Palestinian filmmakers, who have urged the international film industry to refuse silence, racism, and dehumanization, as well as to ‘do everything humanly possible’ to end complicity in their oppression,” the pledge continues. “As filmmakers, actors, film industry workers, and institutions, we recognize the power of cinema to shape perceptions. In this urgent moment of crisis, where many of our governments are enabling the carnage in Gaza, we must do everything we can to address complicity in that unrelenting horror.”
The boycott bars signees from showing work in Israeli festivals, theaters, and other institutions, though it does not prohibit collaborations with individual Israeli artists.
October 7 will mark two years since Hamas’ attack on Israel, which triggered a military response that has left more than 64,000 Palestinians dead, forced widespread displacement, and created a hunger crisis in Gaza, according to PBS.
