More than 60 American cultural figures have signed an open letter addressed US President Joe Biden and his vice president, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, calling on them to act to bring home the 101 Israeli hostages who are held captive by Hamas in Gaza.
The letter, signed by stars such as Chelsea Handler, Connie Britton, Andy Cohen and Jennifer Jason Leigh, reads: "We are artists who want sustainable peace in the Middle East and recognize that the first essential step towards that peace is Hamas returning the 101 remaining hostages, including five Americans, who were stolen from their lives on Oct. 7. We cannot afford to stand by silently while Hamas brutally executes more innocent hostages.”
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Jennifer Jason Leigh, Connie Britton, Chelsea Handler
(Photo: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP ,AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
The letter also calls on the Biden administration to continue to protect Israel and "continue to protect and support the only democracy in the Middle East.” It also asks Washington officials to: “Please do all you can to pressure the terrorists to release the hostages now.”
The letter comes almost a year after the Hamas attack in which over 250 people were kidnapped, and just two weeks after six hostages kidnapped from last year’s Nova Music Festival — U.S. citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Eden Yerushalmi — were found executed in a tunnel under Gaza.
The letter was initiated by organizations working on behalf of Jews, including StopAntisemitism, End Jew Hatred, 2024 New Voices and StandWithUs. It is signed by Jewish and non-Jewish cultural figures from various fields, including television, cinema and fashion, as well as network anchors. Other figures who signed the open letter include: Mayim Bialik, Michael Rapaport, Brett Gelman, actresses Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond") and Odeya Rush ("Lady Bird"), and designer Isaac Mizrahi.
“We are approaching one year since 251 hostages were brutally stolen from their lives and 1200 were murdered. It is so important to keep the spotlight on this,” 2024 New Voices founder Samantha Ettus told CNN. “Our celebrities have come together to draw attention to the 101 hostages remaining in Gaza, including five Americans. After the brutal execution of six hostages, the urgency of getting the world to talk about this is now. We need to put as much pressure as possible on Hamas to return the hostages.”
This is the latest petition about the Israel-Hamas war that has been published in the American entertainment industry. Last week, another letter was published, signed by over 700 members of the actors' union SAG-AFTRA, including Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo and Rami Youssef, calling on the captains of the union to put an end to the “industry’s McCarthyist repression of members who acknowledge Palestinian suffering."
The letter also said that the artists "demand our leadership issue a public statement calling for a permanent cease-fire, release of all hostages – both Palestinian and Israeli, and immediate funding and delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid; to speak out against the targeting and killing of innocent Palestinian civilians, health workers, and our journalist colleagues; to condemn our industry’s McCarthyist repression of members who acknowledge Palestinian suffering; and to eliminate any doubt of our solidarity with workers, artists, and oppressed people worldwide,”