Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, Cynthia Nixon and Ramy Youssef. These actors, along with more than 700 professionals from film, theater and television, have joined in signing an open letter addressed to the SAG-AFTRA union and other powerful unions in the United States to demand that they take a stand in favor of peace and protect professionals who publicly support Palestine. The signed document calls for a “permanent ceasefire in the conflict, the release of all hostages and the delivery of humanitarian aid.”
The signing of this open letter comes after various episodes of “harassment” and job losses on the part of actors who have recognized the suffering of the Palestinian people; a type of McCarthyism, like that suffered by the communists in the 1950s, who denounce and condemn, as is the case of Mexican actress Melissa Barrera, fired from the franchise Shout for posting comments in support of Palestine.
The letter denounces “the silence” of this powerful union and its leaders, as well as other related unions, in the face of “gross violations of human rights and the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and lives for decades.” They also compare this silence with the statements of other unions, American and foreign, which have called for a ceasefire, such as that of the animation professionals, which was the first to do so.
“We reject this silence,” they say in the letter. “Our mission as artists, journalists and storytellers is to bring truth to the world. Fight against the elimination of life and culture,” they say.
The move comes months after SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents thousands of film and television workers in the United States, spoke out on the conflict and condemned Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7. As the complainants of the situation have said, the union’s statement shows sympathy for the Israeli people and does not mention the Palestinians or the context of the military occupation of the region.
The union, which is supposed to represent all of its members, has “ignored the ceasefire requests” of members who have spoken out, according to the signatories. In fact, actor Amin El Gamal, chairman of SAG-AFTRA’s MENA (Middle East and North Africa) national committee, described being “ignored for months.” “How can you mourn the loss of some people and not others?” El Gamal said of the union’s first statement in which the Palestinian people were not mentioned.
According to the letter, celebrities and other union members who called for a ceasefire in the conflict have been blacklisted, lost their jobs and even harassed. As an example, the letter mentions that one actor, who chose to remain anonymous, and his representatives “have been the target of a coordinated campaign of harassment” for such statements.
Signing the open letter, besides the aforementioned actors, there are many others like Riz Ahmed, Common, Bruce Cohen, Busy Phillips, Kendrick Sampson and a long list of professionals affiliated with different unions.
