Mark Ruffalo and Cynthia Nixon Sign Pro-Palestinian Letter to SAG-AFTRA

A group of pro-Palestinian actors, writers, directors and crew are taking their fight to SAG-AFTRA.

Mark Ruffalo, Cynthia Nixon, Common, Susan Sarandon and Rosie O’Donnell are among more than 700 film and television professionals who have signed an open letter from SAG-AFTRA and Sister Guild members for a ceasefire, calling for an end to the “industry’s McCarthyist crackdown on members who recognize the suffering of Palestinians.”

Other signatories include Ramy Youssef, Riz Ahmed, Busy Philipps, Griffin Dunne, Kendrick Sampson, Indya Moore, Haaz Sleiman, Sara Ramirez, Tavi Gevinson, Bobbi Menuez, Atsuko Okatsuka, Leo Sheng, Poppy Liu, Isis King, ER Fightmaster, Angelica Ross, Lexi Underwood, Zoe Chao, Dylan Adler, Jordan Hull, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Jacob Tobia, Josh Thomas and more. Read the full statement below.

Following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli government attacks on Gaza, SAG-AFTRA previously shared a statement of support for the Jewish people.

The open letter acknowledges that the war has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and displaced millions. “Despite these gross violations of human rights and Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land and lives, our union leaders have remained silent. They have made it a condition of the atrocities we choose to condemn and the innocent lives we choose to acknowledge and mourn,” the letter reads.

“We, the undersigned members of SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, WGA, Teamsters, DGA, AEA, AFM, Hollywood Basic Crafts, CSA, PGA and others, demand that our leaders issue a public statement calling for a permanent ceasefire; the release of all hostages – both Palestinian and Israeli – and the immediate funding and delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid; to denounce the targeting and killing of innocent Palestinian civilians, health care workers and our fellow journalists; to condemn our industry’s McCarthyist crackdown on members who recognize the suffering of Palestinians; and to eliminate any doubt about our solidarity with workers, artists and oppressed peoples around the world,” they concluded.

The letter comes after Melissa Barrera was fired from the Shout in November, following her comments on the war between Israel and Hamas, in which she showed her support for Palestine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken provided an update last week that the Biden administration was working with Qatar and Egypt on a new ceasefire proposal to present to Israel and Hamas, noting that 90% of the deal had been approved.

Here is the open letter in its entirety:

To the attention of our guild management and staff:

We are proud to be members of unions and professional associations from across the spectrum of our industry – working on screen, on stage, on set and in the field – united in solidarity with the global call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a just and lasting peace. As artists and storytellers, we cannot stand idly by while our industry refuses to tell the story of Palestinian humanity.

Following SAG-AFTRA’s Statement of Solidarity with Israel on October 7, many members of SAG-AFTRA and its sister organizations have watched in horror as the Israeli government has waged a war of collective punishment against the civilian population of Gaza, killing over 40,000 Palestinians, injuring over 90,000 others, forcibly displacing 2 million people, and openly targeting members of the press and their families. As the Israeli military continues its assault on “safe areas,” schools, and hospitals, and as civilians in Gaza die of starvation, dehydration, and lack of medical supplies and fuel, leading human rights groups have called these acts war crimes, human rights atrocities, and even genocide. The UN has described Gaza as a “children’s graveyard” and estimates that by mid-July “half the population – more than a million people – could face death and starvation.” For now, there is no end in sight – only escalation, death and destruction.

Despite these egregious human rights violations and Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land and lives, our union leaders have remained silent. In doing so, they have made it conditional on the atrocities we choose to condemn and the innocent lives we choose to acknowledge and mourn. Furthermore, SAG-AFTRA and nearly all of our sister organizations have remained silent in the face of the unprecedented and flagrant attacks on press freedom, including the willful targeting and killing of Palestinian journalists and their families by the Israeli military. The Committee to Protect Journalists has declared the war on Gaza “the deadliest period for journalists covering the conflict since CPJ began monitoring the situation in 1992.” Some of these journalists were members of news organizations whose national affiliates are represented by SAG-AFTRA contracts. While SAG-AFTRA issued a public statement at the start of the war in Ukraine demanding that “journalists of all nations working in the war zone be protected,” its words now ring hollow if they only apply to certain journalists of certain identities.

On 13 December 2023, Israeli forces attacked the Freedom Theatre in the Jenin refugee camp and kidnapped several of its members – fellow actors and directors, who called for solidarity from theatre workers around the world. Palestinian trade unions called for international workers’ solidarity, reminding us that “the struggle for justice and liberation for Palestinians is a lever for the liberation of all dispossessed and exploited peoples of the world”. Trade unions around the world have heeded this call, including major unions in Australia, the UK, Belgium, India and the US. On 15 November, our British counterpart union, Equity UK, called for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, stating: “We stand in solidarity with Palestinian artists suffering in the horrific conditions created by Israeli bombing, occupation and apartheid.” » Since then, the UAW International has called for a ceasefire and announced the formation of a Divestment and Just Transition Task Force; the Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) became the first Hollywood union to call for a ceasefire in Gaza; five of the ten largest U.S. unions and federations have formally called for a ceasefire, including the National Education Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the AFL-CIO. Unions collectively representing a majority of organized workers in the United States have formed the National Labor Network for Ceasefire. In July, seven major unions representing more than six million workers issued a letter to President Biden demanding an arms embargo on Israel.

The global call for a ceasefire—from unions, artists and other SAG-AFTRA members, human rights groups, world leaders, and the majority of the American public—grows louder every day. And yet, our government continues to sponsor Israeli forces’ assault on Palestinian civilians, and our union leaders still refuse to speak out. We reject this silence. Our calling as artists, journalists, and storytellers is to bring truth to the world. To fight against the erasure of life and culture. To unite for justice on behalf of the most vulnerable among us. That’s exactly what we did in our historic strike in 2023.

We are the workforce that built and sustained this enterprise. When our leaders cannot publicly stand up for peace and justice, we must do what we always do: organize, fight for change, and win. Our guild leaders must join the largest and most diverse peace movement in a generation—the integrity of our heritage demands nothing less. In the face of genocide, oppression, and injustice, let us ring the bell for humanity and liberation. An injury to one is an injury to all.

We, the undersigned members of SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, WGA, Teamsters, DGA, AEA, AFM, Hollywood Basic Crafts, CSA, PGA and others, demand that our leaders issue a public statement calling for a permanent ceasefire; the release of all hostages – both Palestinian and Israeli – and the immediate funding and delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid; to denounce the targeting and killing of innocent Palestinian civilians, health care workers and our fellow journalists; to condemn our industry’s McCarthyist crackdown on members who recognize the suffering of Palestinians; and to eliminate any doubt about our solidarity with workers, artists and oppressed peoples around the world.

In solidarity,

SAG-AFTRA and Sister Guild Members for Ceasefire