[News] “Silence is not an option”: celebrities speak out against genocide

[Anti-Imperialist News]

peoplesdispatch.org
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/28/silence-is-not-an-option-celebrities-speak-out-against-genocide/>
“Silence is not an option”: celebrities speak out against genocide
Zak Norton
November 28, 2023
------------------------------

Susan Sarandon addressing a protest in New York City on November 9, 2023.
Sarandon was dropped by her talent agency on November 21. Photo: Wyatt
Souers

Academy Award Winning Actor Susan Sarandon was dropped from her long-time
agency United Talent Agency (UTA) on November 21, days after addressing a
rally in support of Palestine and a ceasefire in New York City on Friday,
November 17.

“There are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are
getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country, so
often subjected to violence,” she said, commenting on the decades of racism
and Islamophobia that has been stirred up by dominant institutions in the
United States bent on a reason to justify imperialist interests in the
Middle East.

Melissa Barrera, Mexican-born actress, known most recently for the “*Scream*”
franchise films, was dropped by the production company Spyglass Media Group
after sharing to Instagram her disgust with Western media’s one-sided
narrative driving the Israeli destruction of Gaza. She argued that “Gaza
was being treated like a concentration camp, cornering everyone together,
with nowhere to go, no electricity no water,” referring to the ways Nazis
in Germany targeted Jews and enemies of the state in the 1940s. In
response, Spyglass said in a statement withdrawing her from any future
Scream films that its position “is unequivocally clear: We have zero
tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including
false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or
anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”

After she was dropped by Spyglass, Barrera refused to equivocate her
beliefs:

“First and foremost I condemn Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. I condemn
hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people. As a Latina, a
proud Mexicana, I feel the responsibility of having a platform that allows
me the privilege of being heard…” She continued, “I pray day and night for
no more deaths, for no more violence, and for peaceful co-existence. I will
continue to speak out for those that need it most and continue to advocate
for peace and safety, for human rights and freedom. Silence is not an
option for me.”

Fans and activists have condemned the reaction by the agencies, claiming
they are tampering with their constitutional rights. Others have drawn out
how foolish the companies are in conflating anti-Israel sentiments with
antisemitism, drawing on decades of the Zionist ad hominem attack strategy
that deflects any blame of Israel or its leadership.

Hundreds of artists, including Barrera and Sarandon, signed on to an open
letter <https://www.artists4ceasefire.org/> to President Biden urging for a
ceasefire, declaring: “As of this writing more than 6,000 bombs have been
dropped on Gaza in the last 12 days – resulting in one child being killed
every 15 minutes. We refuse to tell future generations the story of our
silence, that we stood by and did nothing.” As Emergency Relief Chief
Martin Griffiths told UN News, “History is watching.”

Artists and actors like Barrera understand the significance of their
platform in Hollywood; they are workers who labor in an industry that plays
a major part of western media, which is part and parcel of the
military-industrial complex. Barrera’s doubling down on her solidarity with
Palestine draws attention to the complicity of Hollywood in regurgitating a
jingoistic narrative that the Pentagon wants to popularize, both on and off
the screen. There has been a decades’ long relationship
<https://www.defense.gov/News/Inside-DOD/blog/article/2062735/how-why-the-dod-works-with-hollywood/>
between the Pentagon and Hollywood studios. Oftentimes entire movies don’t
get the greenlight
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/us-pentagon-hollywood-storylines-dictates-how>
without approval from the US Department of Defense.

Actors are not the only ones being shunned. Agents, authors, and other
cultural workers have also faced retaliatory measures
<https://variety.com/2023/film/news/hollywood-divide-over-israel-melissa-barrera-1235804452/>
for their comments about Israel. Creative Actor Agency, which represents
many A-listers in Hollywood, dropped authors Saira Rao and Regina Jackson,
after Rao posted to X: “Zionists are starting to panic that more and more
of the world sees them for the bloodthirsty genocidal ghouls they are.” Rao
retorted that Hollywood is “punishing people of color for speaking out…It’s
disgusting. The genocide is indisputable. You can watch it on live TV. CAA
will be on the wrong side of history.”

CAA also notably removed long-time agent Maha Dakhil from a top leadership
position within the agency after she shared a post to her Instagram that
read: “What’s more heartbreaking than witnessing genocide? Witnessing the
denial that genocide is happening.” Her comments provoked an internal
uproar, with famed writer Aaron Sorkin attacking her and leaving CAA.
Dakhil, the daughter of Libyan immigrants, was reportedly only able to keep
her job after actor Tom Cruise spoke up in support.

Many have termed the accusations of antisemitism as baseless and have
pointed out
<https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/maha-dakhil-controversial-gencide-post-will-hollywood-move-on-1235632928/>
that last November, Dahkil helped lead a CAA town hall specifically on
fighting antisemitism. A letter to the editor that she wrote as an
undergrad at UCLA in 1996 where she denounced an article in a local paper
for not addressing the “brutal Israeli forces [who] mercilessly raided
innocent victims in Lebanon,” has been recirculating in Hollywood circles,
demonstrating her concern with war in the region for decades. Movie
directors Ava Duvernay and JJ Abrams have both spoken out to CAA leadership
about their support for Dakhil as well.

Popular artists and celebrities who speak out about US foreign policy have
long faced attempts to censor and silence them, as they actively prevent
the building of consensus around the US government’s positions in global
affairs in general and their aid to Israel in particular.

Muhammad Ali was jailed and prohibited from boxing professionally for years
for speaking out against the Vietnam War. In the late 1940s, as the US
State Department ramped up its public opinion campaign to convince
Americans that the Soviet Union was actually Enemy Number 1 – not the ally
against European fascism that American audiences knew. A long list of
famous actors, radio personalities, and film directors were put on a
blacklist for being a suspected Communist and Soviet Union sympathizer. The
blacklist was disseminated throughout Hollywood as a way to instill fear in
others in the industry of speaking out against the US government.

The contradiction between what the western media wants its audience to know
and public sentiment behind the Palestinian struggle has never been more
clear. Public opinion polls are showing
<https://www.reuters.com/world/us-public-support-israel-drops-majority-backs-ceasefire-reutersipsos-2023-11-15/>
an actual decrease in positive sentiment toward Israel and its response,
while support for a ceasefire has grown dramatically among both Republican
and Democratic voters. American audiences are able to see and hear with
their own eyes and ears how the mass death and destruction in Gaza is too
much for the world to bear. The people stand with Palestine.

*Zak Norton** is a filmmaker and union camera technician in Atlanta,
Georgia. Zak writes about the intersection of labor and war, art and
politics. *
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