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Hollywood Divided: Over 1,200 Film Industry Members Denounce Boycott of Israeli Cultural Institutions
LOS ANGELES, CA - September 26, 2024 – A petition signed by approximately 1,200 members of the American film industry is pushing back against a growing call to boycott Israeli cultural institutions, sparked by the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The counter-petition argues the boycott “amplifies anti-Semitic propaganda” and constitutes “disinformation that defends arbitrary censorship.”
The initial call for a boycott, launched earlier in September by the Collective Film Workers for Palestine, garnered support from thousands of artists – including actors Javier Bardem and Emma Stone - who pledged to cease collaboration with Israeli cultural entities they deem “involved in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”
The response, revealed Thursday by Variety, is spearheaded by actor Liev schreiber, actress jennifer Jason Leigh, and Fox Entertainment global CEO Fernando Szew. Signatories contend the boycott could stifle “voices that seek precisely to find common ground” within Israel and represents an “ineffective” form of “collective punishment.”
The petition also takes issue with the use of terms like “complicity” and “implication” within the boycott movement, questioning who will determine which Israeli filmmakers and institutions are considered complicit. It warns against a potential “McCarthyist Committee” creating blacklists or a blanket boycott of all Israelis and zionists.
The Collective Film Workers for Palestine attempted to address this concern by defining ”complicity” as including actions that “conceal or justify genocide and apartheid and/or to ally with the government which commits it.”
The escalating debate reflects a broader trend of Western filmmakers, musicians, and writers advocating for a cultural boycott of Israel in response to the war in Gaza, raising concerns among Israeli artists who oppose the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As of today, the Collective Film Workers for Palestine claims over 8,000 signatures on its petition.
