Uzo Aduba, Julianna Margulies, Jerry O'Connell Slam ‘Well-Meaning Celebrities' Manipulated by Pro-Palestine Rhetoric in Open Letter
Uzo Aduba, Julianna Margulies, Jerry O'Connell were among the more than 400 Hollywood notables who signed a letter calling for the end of anti-Israel, 'extremist rhetoric and the spread of misinformation' following Capital Jewish Museum shooting.
'Hamas, Iran, and their allies and ideological sympathizers in the West have flooded the world with their hateful lies and antisemitic incitement since October 7 — lies designed to demonize Israel, the Jewish people, and their supporters,' the letter, which was released by nonprofit Creative Community For Peace on Thursday, reads. 'Some well-meaning celebrities and public figures have been manipulated by this constant stream of misinformation, which they have also helped to amplify.'
The letter comes as a response to the fatal shooting, which occurred on May and led to the deaths of two Israeli embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgram. Authorities arrested a 31-year-old suspect named Elias Rodriguez, who is reportedly Chicago resident. Rodriguez has since been charged with first-degree murder and murder of foreign officials, per NPR.
When they were arrested Rodriguez said she orchestrated the shooting 'for Palestine.'
'I did it for Gaza,' Rodriguez reportedly said, per an FBI special agent's affidavit.
Other figures, including Mayim Bialik, Sharon Osbourne, Patricia Heaton, Sherry Lansing, Haim Saban, Rebecca De Mornay, Ben Silverman, signed the letter.
In the letter, Bialik said that the spreading and circulation of misinformation about the Jewish community is history repeating itself.
'Peddling lies about Jews has deadly consequences. For the past two years, public figures and influencers with millions of followers have consistently promoted fallacious and menacing anti-Israel propaganda masquerading as advocacy,' Bialik said in the letter. 'This stream of lies against the Jewish people and the Jewish ancestral homeland has now – unsurprisingly to anyone watching closely – turned deadly in the United States. This moment requires public figures to use their platforms responsibly. We implore these individuals to lend their voices to those of moral clarity, peace and tolerance, instead of division, distortion and delegitimization.'
In a joint statement, CCFP Co-Founder and chairman David Renzer, and Executive Director Ari Ingel called the sharing of false and antisemitic information 'a toxic mix of distortion, bigotry and incitement.'
'For the past 600 days, the anti-Israel movement has espoused an unrelenting stream of extremist rhetoric to demonize Israel and anyone who supports the country — it's a toxic mix of distortion, bigotry and incitement,' the pair wrote. 'Given the power of social media, it's incumbent on entertainers and public figures, with their ability to influence millions around the world, to use their platforms responsibly. Without a course correction, we will only see more hate, more violence, and more innocent people targeted simply for being Jewish.'
At the end of the letter, the group called on their fellow Hollywood members to push back against 'extremist rhetoric.'
'We call on all our colleagues to reject this extremist rhetoric and the spread of misinformation so that we can all work toward a future in which all Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace and dignity,' the CCFP letter reads.The post Uzo Aduba, Julianna Margulies, Jerry O'Connell Slam 'Well-Meaning Celebrities' Manipulated by Pro-Palestine Rhetoric in Open Letter appeared first on TheWrap.
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