Gal Gadot, Jerry Seinfeld, Antoine Fuqua, Mark Hamill, and American Fiction producer Ram Bergman are among 700 Hollywood figures who have signed an open letter condemning Hamas and pledging support for Israel.
The letter, released by the non-profit Creative Community For Peace, calls on the entertainment community to speak out against Hamas after the Islamist militant group’s deadly attacks on Israel over the weekend, support Israel, agree not to share misinformation about the war, and urge the return of Israeli hostages currently being held in the Gaza Strip.
Signatories include Michael Douglas, Liev Schreiber, Chris Pine, Amy Schumer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Debra Messing, Andy Garcia, Millennium Films co-president Jonathan Yunger, MRC co-founder Modi Wiyczk, Saban Capital Group chairman and CEO Haim Saban, producers Basil Iwanyk, Gail Berman and Erik Feig, Proxima founder Ryan Kavanaugh, and Spyglass CEO Gary Barber.
Scroll to bottom to read the full open letter .
Procuring supplies
Amid the support efforts, Millennium Films’ Yunger has been putting the statement’s words into action and working around the clock to procure supplies.
“I’ve been working for days, talking with the ministry of defence and agencies to procure supplies here in Miami – [bullet-proof] vests, flashlights, headlamps, knee pads,” Yunger told Screendaily. “I’ve been sending messages around Hollywood asking for help.”
Yunger said early efforts have succeeded in getting supplies into Israel in the wake of the most devastating cross-border attacks on the country in more than a generation.
“I’m trying to raise money. I have family in Israel and people who are fighting.”
Yunger said his brother left a hotel in Jerusalem on Saturday 30 minutes before rockets launched from Hamas strongholds in Gaza struck that part of the city. His niece’s fiancé is a front-line fighter, and his cousin serves with an Israeli special forces unit.
“It’s insanity, we haven’t stopped and it’s an incredibly emotional time,” he said. “At the same time been amazing to see many communities in Los Angeles and Miami working 24 hours a day in support.
“I’ve been on the phone at my desk, loading trucks with supplies to make sure people in Israel get what they need.”
Guy Nattiv, the Israeli-born filmmaker whose latest film Golda is set during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, has been scrambling to help locate victims of the Hamas attacks.
In the past several days, Natalie Portman, Madonna, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Viola Davis, late night talk show host Seth Myers, Selma Blair, and Josh Gad are among those who have added their voices to the collective outrage over Saturday’s massacre.
Their comments and posts come as more talent, companies and guilds have begun to speak out against the attacks via statements and on social media including the Directors Guild Of America and talent agencies like UTA, CAA and WME.
Saturday’s attacks across Israel have killed more than 1,300 people according to the BBC, with some 150 Israelis believed to have been taken hostage.
Israel has launched retaliatory strikes on Gaza and is laying siege to the Palestinian territory, where the BBC reports more than 1,400 have been killed.
The nightmare that Israelis have feared for decades became a reality as Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israeli cities and towns.
Under the cover of thousands of rockets fired indiscriminately into civilian populations, Hamas murdered and kidnapped innocent men, women, and children. They kidnapped and murdered infants and the elderly. They raped women and mutilated their bodies. They paraded their bodies through the streets and on social media, and cowardly attacked the Supernova Music Festival – bringing death and destruction to an event celebrating friendship and love.
This is terrorism. This is evil. There is no justification or rationalization for Hamas’ actions. These are barbaric acts of terrorism that must be called out by everyone. They are a terrorist organization whose leaders call for the murder of Jews everywhere.
CCFP calls on our friends and colleagues in the entertainment industry to speak out forcefully against Hamas and do whatever is in their power to urge the terrorist organization to return the innocent hostages to their families.
As Israel takes the necessary steps to defend its citizens in the coming days and weeks, social media will be overrun by an orchestrated misinformation campaign spearheaded by Iran. We urge everyone to remember the horrific images that came out of Israel and to not amplify or fall for their propaganda.
Our thoughts are with all those experiencing unfathomable levels of fear and violence, and we hope for the day when Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace.
Rebecca Leffler contributed to this report.
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