The prevailing narrative from entertainment, academia, and other creative spheres is that Israel is the villain of all villains. And one of the words we see most often is “genocide.”
A massive contingent of creative and political figures has lent their names to an open letter calling out the “narrative. The letter is the brainchild of the Creative Community for Peace, and it begins, “We the undersigned are outraged and sickened by the latest blood libel to be inflicted on the Jewish people: the lie that Israel committed ‘genocide’ in Gaza. We reject this accusation with contempt.”
“Central to the letter is the meaning of the word ‘genocide’ itself. Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, genocide requires ‘specific intent’ to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group,” the press release explains. “This is an exceptionally demanding legal standard that goes beyond knowledge that civilian deaths, widespread destruction or even the destruction of part of a group may result. It requires an intent to bring about the group’s destruction as such. The signatories argue that applying the term to Israel without regard for that standard has turned one of international law’s gravest concepts into a political accusation.”
The letter has over 5,000 signatories, and they come from all political persuasions, religious traditions, and nationalities. The press release gives a sampling:
Among the political and public-policy figures signing the letter are former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson; former Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney General Irwin Cotler; former UK Cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi; former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie; former senior U.S. diplomat Elliott Abrams; and former White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jason Furman. They are joined by prominent scholars, historians and intellectuals, including Harvard professor Steven Pinker; historian Benny Morris; historian Sir Niall Ferguson; Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, University Distinguished Professor at Emory University and former U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism; former Yad Vashem Chief Historian Dina Porat; Yossi Klein Halevi, Author and Senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute; Brandeis University Professor Emeritus Jonathan D. Sarna; historian Simon Sebag Montefiore; historians Jeffrey Herf and Norman Goda; UCLA professor Judea Pearl; author Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Professor of History and Judaic Studies at Binghamton University Jonathan Karp; and urban-warfare expert John Spencer.
And there’s more:
The letter also includes leading figures from film, television, music and media, among them Haim Saban; former Paramount Global Chair Shari Redstone; former Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing; Spyglass Media Group Chairman and CEO Gary Barber; Tribeca Enterprises co-founder Jane Rosenthal; producers Lawrence Bender and Susan Rovner; Fernando Szew, Head of Studio, Fox Entertainment Studios; Propagate Content executives Ben Silverman and Howard Owens; entertainment attorney and investor Kevin Yorn; Sharon Osbourne; actors Debra Messing, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anthony Edwards, Mayim Bialik, Dame Maureen Lipman, Patricia Heaton and Jerry O’Connell; Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creator Amy Sherman-Palladino; House creator David Shore; authors Dara Horn and Howard Jacobson; and music industry heavyweights Julie Greenwald, Bob Ezrin, John Ondrasik, David Draiman, Boy George, Paul Kemsely, and Billy Mann.
“Those who accuse Israel of genocide, a very specific crime with a legally specific definition, are fulfilling the dictum attributed to the Nazi propagandist, Josef Goebbels. ‘If you tell a lie and keep repeating it enough, people will eventually come to believe it,’” said retired Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt. “By October 10 [2023], accusations of genocide were common, even before Israel set foot in Gaza. Then it was extremist voices who made this charge. Now, people have come to believe the lie and to mindlessly repeat it.”
Related: When Ossoff Claims His Support for Israel Is ‘Ironclad,’ I Wonder If He Knows What the Word Means
“Lies about Jews lead to persecuting them,” said Rabbi David Wolpe. “Whether they spring from ignorance or malice, let’s stop the lie now.”
Side note: I’m not one to brag — honest — but I’m proud to say that I signed my name to the letter several months ago. It’s humbling and encouraging to see so many people adding their names to the list of those condemning the lies that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.
The letter concludes, “We urge our fellow Jews and our non-Jewish friends to treat the accusation of genocide with revulsion – as the latest in a long history of lies about the Jewish people. ‘A lie has no legs,’ notes the ancient Hebrew proverb. We will not allow this lie to stand.”
It’s frightening to see the antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric that stems from these lies of Israeli genocide, especially as we’re seeing it creeping in on the right. So it’s a major encouragement to see such a large swath of public figures standing up against the lies and their consequences. Read the letter and see the full list of names here.
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