Nearly 400+ people in the entertainment industry signed an open letter calling for "a rejection of extremist rhetoric and the spread of misinformation."
The Creative Community For Peace (CCFP) released a letter signed by hundreds of creativescalling for an end to "lies and antisemitic incitement" in the fallout of the Israel-Hamas War.
"Hamas, Iran, and their allies and ideological sympathizers in the West have flooded the world with their hateful lies and antisemitic incitement since October 7 — lies designed to demonize Israel, the Jewish people, and their supporters," the text of the letter reads.
Some of the signatories included Mayim Bialik, Debra Messing, Sharon Osbourne, Jerry O’Connell, Patricia Heaton, and Uzo Aduba.
Anti-Zionist protests affect Jewish lives
The letter went on to note the effects of the war, noting the shooting of two Israeli embassy workers in Washington DC earlier this month. It also stated that the signatories believed that many people in Hollywood had been "manipulated by the constant stream of misinformation."
The CCFP letter noted that the signatories believed that recent waves of anti-Zionist and anti-Israel protests directly endangered Jews around the world.
"We reject the anti-Israel movement co-opting every social justice cause — outrageously claiming that to stand with the LGBTQIA+ community, or with anti-racist, anti-colonialist, anti-Islamophobic and anti-antisemitic movements, is to stand against Israel," the statement read.
Some of the signatories from the letter came out with their own statements. Israeli-American actress Mayim Bialik said that the way Jews are talked about in the media clearly has consequences.
“History repeats itself: peddling lies about Jews has deadly consequences. For the past two years, public figures and influencers with millions of followers have consistently promoted fallacious and menacing anti-Israel propaganda masquerading as advocacy," Bialik said, according to the CCFP release.
"This stream of lies against the Jewish people and the Jewish ancestral homeland has now - unsurprisingly to anyone watching closely - turned deadly in the United States. This moment requires public figures to use their platforms responsibly. We implore these individuals to lend their voices to those of moral clarity, peace, and tolerance, instead of division, distortion and delegitimization.”
CCFP leadership said that antisemitic narratives were amplified on social media, and that without correction, more violence would occur.
“For the past 600 days, the anti-Israel movement has espoused an unrelenting stream of extremist rhetoric to demonize Israel and anyone who supports the country — it’s a toxic mix of distortion, bigotry and incitement," CCFP Chairman/Co-Founder David Renzer and Executive Director Ari Ingel wrote in the statement.
"Given the power of social media, it’s incumbent on entertainers and public figures, with their ability to influence millions around the world, to use their platforms responsibly. Without a course correction, we will only see more hate, more violence, and more innocent people targeted simply for being Jewish.”