Hollywood joins history’s shameful betrayals by blacklisting Jewish artists

Over 3,900 film artists, including some of Hollywood’s most celebrated names, just signed a boycott of Israeli cinema institutions. They claim this is a principled stand. I call it what it is: a cowardly act that feeds antisemitism, punishes Jewish artists, and poisons the very spirit of creativity.

I am not Jewish. I don’t claim that heritage. But I don’t need to be Jewish to see right from wrong. Common sense alone tells us that when you single out the world’s one Jewish state, when you target its filmmakers and artists while ignoring brutal regimes across the globe, you are not standing for justice. You are standing for bigotry dressed up as virtue. You are empowering and legitimizing terrorists. 

TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL’S OCTOBER 7 FLIP-FLOP REVEALS PREJUDICE OF CULTURAL GATEKEEPERS

John Ondrasik at the Saban Theater on Oct. 9, 2018, in Beverly Hills, California.   (Maury Phillips/Getty Images)

Art is supposed to transcend politics. It is supposed to give voice to the voiceless, shed light on the human condition, and create empathy across divides. But this boycott does the opposite. It silences. It excludes. It tells Israeli artists, “Your voice doesn’t belong.” That is not art. That is discrimination. That is antisemitism. That is despicable. 

What’s worse is the deafening silence from Hollywood’s elite, particularly the Jewish elite. Many of you built careers, and fortunes, on stories of courage, identity, and overcoming oppression. Yet when your own people are under attack — when antisemitism is exploding on campuses, in the streets, and now in the arts — too many of you remain on the sidelines, or worse, join the chorus of condemnation. The fact that virtually no non-Jews have the moral clarity to call out their industry’s hatred and blood libels is also a stain that will not be erased by time or contrition.

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To paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr., “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but, the silence over that by the good people.” Silence in the face of antisemitism is surrender. And surrender from within is the most dangerous betrayal of all.

Hamas terrorists killed civilians, including women, children and the elderly, when they attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.  (Israel Defense Forces via AP)

Hollywood has always prided itself on standing up for the marginalized, the persecuted, the oppressed. But today, that standard is being abandoned. Instead, conformity and cowardice rule the day. It’s easier to boycott Israelis than to challenge fashionable lies. It’s easier to parrot slogans than to defend truth.

This is not just about Israel. This is about the soul of art itself. When you turn creativity into a political weapon, when you punish people not for their talent but for their identity, you kill art. You replace courage with cowardice, imagination with ideology, and beauty with blacklists.

Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Olivia Colman were criticized for signing a letter backing a boycott of Israeli film institutions.  (Theo Wargo/Getty Images; Rochlin/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival; Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images)

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Thankfully, there are a few voices in Hollywood on the right side of history, including Paramount and a letter signed by 1200 entertainment leaders, including yours truly, which condemned the blacklisters.

Many of us have wondered how the Holocaust could ever have happened. We need wonder no longer. It’s shades of 1938. Because if you can’t find the courage to defend Jewish artists and the Jewish state, don’t be surprised when history remembers this as the moment Hollywood lost its conscience, creativity, and credibility. We all know who you are. 
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