Do Uninformed Hollywood Celebrities Realize They Are Hurting Chances of a Gaza ‘Ceasefire’?

Recently, a letter was addressed to the Hollywood actor’s union, SAG-AFTRA, signed by hundreds of Hollywood actors (along with, for some reason, many who are not actors), demanding that the union’s leadership call for “a permanent ceasefire” in the war in Gaza.

The letter also demanded that SAG-AFTRA, “condemn our industry’s McCarthyist repression of members who acknowledge Palestinian suffering.”

The letter itself is comprised largely of slanderous lies about Israel’s conduct of the war, just as one would expect from the likes of the usual suspects who signed it — Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, Susan Sarandon, Cynthia Nixon.

I could go on at length to dispute their claims, pointing out that fighting a war that the enemy started and in which many civilians tragically die — as they do in *all* major wars — is not what the word “genocide” means.

I could point out that Israel is not “waging a war of collective punishment on the civilian population of Gaza,” but rather going to extraordinary lengths to avoid civilian casualties to an extent unprecedented in modern, urban warfare.

A simple thought experiment underscores the absurdity of the above two claims: imagine if Israel actually did want to commit genocide or wage a war against the civilian population. What would that look like? Obviously, hundreds of thousands if not millions would be dead. Not tens of thousands.

And let me take this moment to say that, of course, it is terrible that there are many innocent civilians among the thousands of dead. I, and every Jew and supporter of Israel I know, feel horrible for the innocent victims of this war — a war that Hamas started and that would end instantly the moment Hamas surrenders.

I could point out that under international law, it is legal to target “safe zones, schools, and hospitals” when the enemy uses them as bases for their operations — just as Hamas is doing.

I could point out the brazen audacity of calling for the “release of all hostages — both Palestinian and Israeli” as though terrorists and armed enemy combatants taken prisoner are “hostages,” and in any way comparable to women and children dragged from their beds.

I could point out the inanity of the oxymoron “permanent ceasefire,” when a “ceasefire” by definition is temporary, just like the ceasefire that was in place on October 7, 2023, before Hamas violated it by invading Israel — and just like every other ceasefire that has been agreed to and violated by Hamas over the past decades.

What might be “permanent” is a peace treaty, such as those negotiated between Israel and many of its other neighbors. But Hamas has made it clear they will never agree to such a peace, and thus any cessation of hostilities could only be “permanent” if Hamas is completely defeated, which is, of course, Israel’s goal.

I could make all of these points, and many others, in response to the false, naïve, and incendiary anti-Israel statements made in the letter to SAG-AFTRA — but similar arguments have been put forth many times in many formats and forums, and there is no need to rehash them at greater length here.

Instead I want to ask this question: why do these actors think that they can proffer a laundry list of slanderous claims against Israel, which are, ultimately, antisemitic in fact if not in intent, without deserving to face any consequences?

I am not aware of any actors facing “McCarthyist repression” just for “acknowledging Palestinian suffering,” as the letter claims.

What I am aware of are instances in which some of those who have signed the letter — such as Susan Sarandon and Melissa Barrera — lost work over blatantly antisemitic statements.

Should they be protected from those consequences? Would an actor who made racist statements targeting any minority group (aside from Jews) and lost work as a result (see: Roseanne Barr) have the temerity to “condemn” the “McCarthyist repression?”

Now, I realize that many of those who signed the letter are probably too stupid to understand the implications of what they have endorsed. If this sounds overly harsh, I’m sorry, but I don’t know how else to say it.

I have little doubt that many of the signatories are well meaning, caring people, who see suffering and think they are doing the right and noble thing in calling for it to end. But does that absolve them from all responsibility in signing something they don’t understand?

And what of those who do understand? Who are knowingly giving credence to the lies and anti-Israel propaganda that not only damages Israel in the eyes of the public but also fuels anti-Jewish hatred in the US? What of their responsibility?

It’s bad enough that the letter is an unbalanced, anti-Israel diatribe that doesn’t once lay any blame for anything at the feet of Hamas — and, shockingly, doesn’t even once use the word “Hamas” in its discussion of a conflict it portrays as being fought between Israel and Gazan civilians.

What’s worse is that, by entirely taking the unnamed Hamas’ side, the letter makes its stated goal of ending the conflict less likely to occur.

Hamas can find great encouragement in the fact that its objective of turning Israel into a pariah is working — it’s working on college campuses, on the streets of European cities, among segments of the Democratic Party, and among these Hollywood actors.

Why would Hamas agree to a ceasefire when not doing so seems to be paying such dividends?

Do the signers of the letter know that their actions make a ceasefire *less* likely? Are they too unaware of the geopolitical situation or the strategies and motives of Hamas to understand? Or are they too blinded by their antipathy toward Israel and Jews to care?

Whether for better or worse, celebrities have a great deal of power in our society. But with great power comes great responsibility. Or does it?

Michael Kaplan is a TV writer-producer, playwright, and children’s book author. For his TV work, he has been nominated for four Emmy Awards, winning one.

The post Do Uninformed Hollywood Celebrities Realize They Are Hurting Chances of a Gaza ‘Ceasefire’? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.