Liev Schreiber, Mayim Bialik, Ram Bergman

Source: Gage Skidmore, Wiki Commons CC BY-SA 3.0, / Misnanita, Wiki Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 / T-Street

Liev Schreiber, Mayim Bialik, Ram Bergman

Liev Schreiber, Mayim Bialik, and Knives Out franchise producer Ram Bergman are among more than 1,200 entertainment industry figures to sign an open letter rejecting the recent petition to boycott Israeli productions, festivals and institutions “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”.

The letter from non-profits Creative Community For Peace and The Brigade said the pledge organised by Film Workers For Palestine, which was signed by thousands, was “a de facto attempt to silence Jewish stories and ostracise Israeli filmmakers”.

“To censor the very voices trying to find common ground and express their humanity, is wrong, ineffective, and a form of collective punishment,” read an excerpt from the open letter.

It argues that Israel’s film industry “includes groundbreaking, celebratory, and critical projects about Palestinians and Jews”, and was “a vibrant hub of collaboration between Jewish and Palestinian artists and creatives”, adding: ”They are often the loudest critics of government policy.”

Scroll to bottom to read full letter

Bialik, who stars in Jim Jarmusch’s Venice Golden Lion winner Father Mother Sister Brother, said: “Boycotting filmmakers, studios, production companies and individuals simply because they are Israeli fuels division and contributes to a disturbing culture of marginalisation. Additionally, this boycott pledge does nothing to end the war in Gaza, bring the hostages home, or help curb the alarming rise of antisemitism globally.”

Former Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing and Rebecca De Mornay are among the signatories of the open letter.

Last week Shai Carmeli-Pollak’s Ophir Awards best film winner The Sea became Israel’s Oscar submission. It is supported by Israel Film Fund and tells of a Palestinian boy who visits the sea in Tel Aviv for the first time. The Times Of Israel reported that Israeli culture minister Miki Zohar described the best film decision as “disgraceful” and said he would be withdrawing government funding for the Ophir Awards.

Earlier this month, Paramount Pictures became the first – and as yet the only – Hollywood major to condemn the boycott.

The full open letter appears below:

To our fellow artists and the global film community,

We know the power of film. We know the power of story. That is why we cannot stay silent when a story is turned into a weapon, when lies are dressed up as justice, and when artists are misled into amplifying antisemitic propaganda.

The pledge circulated under the banner of “Film Workers for Palestine” is not an act of conscience. It is a document of misinformation that advocates for arbitrary censorship and the erasure of art.

To censor the very voices trying to find common ground and express their humanity, is wrong, ineffective, and a form of collective punishment.

Israel’s film industry includes groundbreaking, celebratory, and critical projects about Palestinians and Jews, which many of you have lauded and celebrated. Israel’s film community is restless, argumentative, and independent, where directors challenge ministers and many of the very festivals you target, consistently program dissent.

Israel’s entertainment industry is a vibrant hub of collaboration between Jewish and Palestinian artists and creatives, who work together every single day to tell complex stories that entertain and inform both communities and the world. Israeli film institutions are not government entities. They are often the loudest critics of government policy.

The pledge uses nebulous terms like ‘implicating’ and ‘complicity.’ Who will decide which Israeli filmmakers and film institutions are ‘complicit’? A McCarthyist committee with blacklists? Or is ‘complicity’ just a pretext to boycott all Israelis and Zionists — 95% of the world’s Jewish population — no matter what they create or believe?

History warns us. Censorship has been used to silence filmmakers before: Nazi Germany’s propaganda machine, Soviet censorship, and even Hollywood’s own blacklists. Every time it was dressed up as virtue. And every time it was oppression. Every time, its targets expanded.

We know that many of you have good intentions and believe you are standing for peace. But your names are being weaponized and tied to lies and discrimination. This pledge erases dissenting Israeli voices, legitimizes falsehoods, and shields Hamas from blame.

If you want peace, call for the immediate release of the remaining hostages. Support filmmakers who create dialogue across communities. Stand against Hamas.

Let art speak the whole truth.

We call on all our colleagues in the entertainment industry to reject this discriminatory and antisemitic boycott call that only adds another roadblock on the path to peace.

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