As I have posted on this blog, there is no shortage of celebrities who have thrown their hat in the ring with the palestinians and even Hamas. Celebrities such as Mark Ruffalo, Russell Brand, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
On the other hand, some have shown their staunch support for Israel, including Joan Rivers, Jon Voight, Jon Lovitz, Gal Gadot, Dean Cain, Kevin Sorbo, Roseanne Barr, and Mark Pellegrino.
But now, a whole bunch of heavyweight celebrities have come out behind Israel, signing the following statement of support that will initially be published in magazines Billboard, Variety and Hollywood Reporter on Sunday, and later be featured in influential newspapers in the US.
It’s like the Expendables of pro-Israel celebrities (and even includes some actual Expendables like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Kelsey Grammer!)
We, the undersigned, are saddened by the devastating loss of life endured by Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza. We are pained by the suffering on both sides of the conflict and hope for a solution that brings peace to the region.
While we stand firm in our commitment to peace and justice, we must also stand firm against ideologies of hatred and genocide which are reflected in Hamas’ charter, Article 7 of which reads, “There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!” The son of a Hamas founder has also commented about the true nature of Hamas.
Hamas cannot be allowed to rain rockets on Israeli cities, nor can it be allowed to hold its own people hostage. Hospitals are for healing, not for hiding weapons. Schools are for learning, not for launching missiles. Children are our hope, not our human shields.
We join together in support of the democratic values we all cherish and in the hope that the healing and transformative power of the arts can be used to build bridges of peace.
Michael Adler
Avi Arad
Tom Arnold
Jeff Astrof
Craig Balsam
Gary Barber
Roseanne Barr
Elana Barry
Jonathan Baruch
Aaron Bay-Schuck
Lainie Sorkin Becky
Steven Bensusan
Adam Berkowitz
Greg Berlanti
Jordan Berliant
Mayim Bialik
Joshua P Binder
Todd Black
Michael Borkow
Scooter Braun
Dan Brecher
Eric Brooks
Dan Bucatinsky
David Byrnes
Omri Casspi
Josh Charles
Etan Cohen
Joe Cohen
Marc Dauer
Craig David
Donald De Line
Matt DelPiano
Josh Deutsch
Minnie Driver
Jack Dytman
Lee Eisenberg
Doug Ellin
Diane English
Dan Erlij
Ron Fair
Dave Feldman
James Feldman
Patti Felker
Sam Fischer
Erica Forster
Gary Foster
Doug Frank
Bryan J. Freedman
Geordie E. Frey
William Friedkin
Daryl Friedman
Michael Fricklas
Jeremy Garelick
Ran Geffen-Lifshitz
Andrew Genger
Jody Gerson
Risa Gertner
Jami Gertz
Gary Ginsberg
David Glick
Jonathan Glickman
Evan Goldberg
Gil Goldschein
Tony Goldwyn
Nate Goodman
Marc Graboff
Kelsey Grammer
Trudy Green
Adam Griffin
Iris Grossman
Phil Hacker
Sanaa Hamri
Adi Hasak
Ned Haspel
Andrew Hurwitz
Kathy Ireland
Bill Jacobson
Neil Jacobson
Jonathan Jakubowicz
Nathan Kahane
Adam Kaller
Zach Katz
Ryan Kavanaugh
Ron Kenan
Larry Kennar
Kevin King-Templeton
Michael Kives
Courtney Kivowitz
Patrick Knapp
Amanda Kogan
Steven Kram
Erik Kritzer
Peter Landesman
Eriq La Salle
Sherry Lansing
Estelle Lasher
Michael Lasker
Keili Lefkovitz
Carol Leifer
Avi Lerner
Colin Lester
Ben Levine
Susan Levinson
David Levy
Shuki Levy
Linda Lichter
Jonathan Littman
David Lonner
Benji Madden
Joel Madden
Bill Maher
Joshua Malina
Rob Markus
Orly Marley
Ziggy Marley
Bill Masters
Barry McPherson
Brian Medavoy
Jeff Melman
Scott Melrose
Jeffrey D. Melvoin
Rina Mimoun
Michael Morales
Alan Nierob
Michael Nyman (Chairman and CEO of PMK•BNC not the famous composer)
James Packer
Scott Packman
Amy Pascal
Donald S. Passman
Brett Paul
Linda Perry
Richard Plepler
Rob Prinz
Dan Rabinow
Dean Raise
Bruce M. Ramer
David Ready
Ivan Reitman
David Renzer
Hanna Rochelle
Seth Rogen
John Rogovin
Lena Roklin
Zvi Howard Rosenman
Bill Rosenthal
Phil Rosenthal
Brian Ross
Michael Rotenberg
Rob Rothman
Robert Rovner
Susan Rovner
Haim Saban
Nancy Sanders
Mark Schiff
Steve Schnur
Jordan Schur
Sam Schwartz
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Adam Schweitzer
Scott Siegler
Ben Silverman
Sarah Silverman
Martin Singer
Aaron Sorkin
Steve Spira
Sylvester Stallone
Norman Steinberg
Gary Stiffelman
Gene Stupnitsky
Eric Suddleson
Nick Styne
Danny Sussman
Traci Szymanski
Nina Tassler
Adam Taylor
Mitch Tenzer
Fred D. Toczek
Michael Tolkin
Jonathan Tropper
Paul Wachter
Nina Wass
Avi Wasserman
Steven Weber
Bernie Weinraub
Jerry Weintraub
David N. Weiss
Alan Wertheimer
Ron West
Nikki Wheeler
Bryan Wolf
Sharon Tal Yguado
Pete Yorn
Rick Yorn
No Mel Gibson (!), although an impressive number of celebrities, all of whom should now be on this list.
Update: we have updated the entry for Michael Nyman to make it clear this is not the famous composer.
