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British Actors Union Under Fire After Releasing Anti-Israel Statement About Gaza War
Israeli soldiers inspect the entrance to what they say is a tunnel used by Hamas terrorists during a ground operation in a location given as Gaza, in this handout image released Nov. 9, 2023. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
Members of the entertainment industry have accused the British union for performing artists called Equity of releasing a biased and “offensive” statement that included “antisemitic dogwhistles” while condemning Israel’s military campaign against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement published on Nov. 15, the union, which represents 47,000 performers and creative workers in the United Kingdom, accused Israel of “bombing, occupation, and apartheid,” and demanded the British government “stand up against genocide.” The union additionally called for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza and for the return of the roughly 240 hostages kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during the terror group’s onslaught across southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The union said artists are “frightened of censorship for expressing opinions on the conflict which are rooted in peace, justice, and dignity.” The statement added: “The actions of the Israeli state or Hamas cannot be used to stoke fires of hate, silence peaceful dissent, or divide communities anywhere in our country.”
More than a dozen people in the UK entertainment industry, including current and former members of Equity, told Variety that they are disappointed in the union’s comments. One Israeli member of Equity, who preferred to stay anonymous, told the magazine that the union’s “clear, one-sided statement and total dismissal of ‘my side’s’ pain and rights” has made them fear for their well-being. “I wouldn’t be surprised if people took liberty to act on [their] prejudices, thinking they have the organization’s blessing to discriminate,” the union member added.
There has been a global spike in antisemitism since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, including in Europe, where several countries have experienced a record number of antisemitic incidents.
“This body [Equity] who purports to passionately espouse tenets of inclusivity and diversity, claiming to heal the world through artistic endeavor, made the very conscious decision to include unequivocal antisemitic dogwhistles in their statement,” said Leo Pearlman, co-founder of transatlantic production company Fulwell 73
A Jewish actor who left Equity years ago told Variety that the union has become “utterly redundant and useless and something to battle against as a Jewish actor.” She added that Equity “has this huge responsibility and power and it’s so misused and so upsetting as a minority within this industry.” Another former Equity member who is related to Holocaust survivors said: “I personally found [the statement] offensive because words like ‘genocide’ are so misappropriated. It’s really triggering.”
“Maybe they should try and live up to their name and do their job before straying into areas [in which] they’re even less qualified to cause damage,” said another unnamed former Equity member who is also a Hollywood actor.
The declaration was Equity’s second statement about the Israel-Hamas war. In the union’s first, published on Oct. 17, it also accused Israel of apartheid, as well as an “occupation [that] deprives Palestinians of their human rights, driving continued violence” and the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people for the crimes of Hamas.”
“We condemn those politicians in the UK who seek to characterize Palestinian solidarity as extremist, and recognize that there can be no apologist for antisemitism or Islamophobia,” the union added.
Jewish actress Maureen Lipman said that she left Equity years ago “because of their slanted bias during the [former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy] Corbyn era on the BDS [anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement] and on their obsessive focus on the Middle East to the exclusion of every other conflict in the world.” She said regarding the union’s latest statement about the Israel-Hamas war: “An actors union with no empathy. The irony.”
In both statements, Equity argued it needed to comment on the Israel-Hamas war, saying that since 1930, it has “undertaken international solidarity work to advance the cause of the trade union movement, and in the interests of artists facing oppression.”
“Our longstanding involvement in the Middle East dates back almost 40 years, and the events of this month have demanded that we engage in as practical a way as possible to the threats faced by artists and working people in Israel and Palestine,” the union said.
In 2021, the union supported a rally where a number of attendees held antisemitic signs, including one that showed a picture of Jesus carrying a cross and the text: “Do not let them do the same thing today again.”
The post British Actors Union Under Fire After Releasing Anti-Israel Statement About Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.