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Do Uninformed Hollywood Celebrities Realize They Are Hurting Chances of a Gaza ‘Ceasefire’?
Recently, a letter was addressed to the Hollywood actor’s union, SAG-AFTRA, signed by hundreds of Hollywood actors (along with, for some reason, many who are not actors), demanding that the union’s leadership call for “a permanent ceasefire” in the war in Gaza.
The letter also demanded that SAG-AFTRA, “condemn our industry’s McCarthyist repression of members who acknowledge Palestinian suffering.”
The letter itself is comprised largely of slanderous lies about Israel’s conduct of the war, just as one would expect from the likes of the usual suspects who signed it — Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, Susan Sarandon, Cynthia Nixon.
I could go on at length to dispute their claims, pointing out that fighting a war that the enemy started and in which many civilians tragically die — as they do in *all* major wars — is not what the word “genocide” means.
I could point out that Israel is not “waging a war of collective punishment on the civilian population of Gaza,” but rather going to extraordinary lengths to avoid civilian casualties to an extent unprecedented in modern, urban warfare.
A simple thought experiment underscores the absurdity of the above two claims: imagine if Israel actually did want to commit genocide or wage a war against the civilian population. What would that look like? Obviously, hundreds of thousands if not millions would be dead. Not tens of thousands.
And let me take this moment to say that, of course, it is terrible that there are many innocent civilians among the thousands of dead. I, and every Jew and supporter of Israel I know, feel horrible for the innocent victims of this war — a war that Hamas started and that would end instantly the moment Hamas surrenders.
I could point out that under international law, it is legal to target “safe zones, schools, and hospitals” when the enemy uses them as bases for their operations — just as Hamas is doing.
I could point out the brazen audacity of calling for the “release of all hostages — both Palestinian and Israeli” as though terrorists and armed enemy combatants taken prisoner are “hostages,” and in any way comparable to women and children dragged from their beds.
I could point out the inanity of the oxymoron “permanent ceasefire,” when a “ceasefire” by definition is temporary, just like the ceasefire that was in place on October 7, 2023, before Hamas violated it by invading Israel — and just like every other ceasefire that has been agreed to and violated by Hamas over the past decades.
What might be “permanent” is a peace treaty, such as those negotiated between Israel and many of its other neighbors. But Hamas has made it clear they will never agree to such a peace, and thus any cessation of hostilities could only be “permanent” if Hamas is completely defeated, which is, of course, Israel’s goal.
I could make all of these points, and many others, in response to the false, naïve, and incendiary anti-Israel statements made in the letter to SAG-AFTRA — but similar arguments have been put forth many times in many formats and forums, and there is no need to rehash them at greater length here.
Instead I want to ask this question: why do these actors think that they can proffer a laundry list of slanderous claims against Israel, which are, ultimately, antisemitic in fact if not in intent, without deserving to face any consequences?
I am not aware of any actors facing “McCarthyist repression” just for “acknowledging Palestinian suffering,” as the letter claims.
What I am aware of are instances in which some of those who have signed the letter — such as Susan Sarandon and Melissa Barrera — lost work over blatantly antisemitic statements.
Should they be protected from those consequences? Would an actor who made racist statements targeting any minority group (aside from Jews) and lost work as a result (see: Roseanne Barr) have the temerity to “condemn” the “McCarthyist repression?”
Now, I realize that many of those who signed the letter are probably too stupid to understand the implications of what they have endorsed. If this sounds overly harsh, I’m sorry, but I don’t know how else to say it.
I have little doubt that many of the signatories are well meaning, caring people, who see suffering and think they are doing the right and noble thing in calling for it to end. But does that absolve them from all responsibility in signing something they don’t understand?
And what of those who do understand? Who are knowingly giving credence to the lies and anti-Israel propaganda that not only damages Israel in the eyes of the public but also fuels anti-Jewish hatred in the US? What of their responsibility?
It’s bad enough that the letter is an unbalanced, anti-Israel diatribe that doesn’t once lay any blame for anything at the feet of Hamas — and, shockingly, doesn’t even once use the word “Hamas” in its discussion of a conflict it portrays as being fought between Israel and Gazan civilians.
What’s worse is that, by entirely taking the unnamed Hamas’ side, the letter makes its stated goal of ending the conflict less likely to occur.
Hamas can find great encouragement in the fact that its objective of turning Israel into a pariah is working — it’s working on college campuses, on the streets of European cities, among segments of the Democratic Party, and among these Hollywood actors.
Why would Hamas agree to a ceasefire when not doing so seems to be paying such dividends?
Do the signers of the letter know that their actions make a ceasefire *less* likely? Are they too unaware of the geopolitical situation or the strategies and motives of Hamas to understand? Or are they too blinded by their antipathy toward Israel and Jews to care?
Whether for better or worse, celebrities have a great deal of power in our society. But with great power comes great responsibility. Or does it?
Michael Kaplan is a TV writer-producer, playwright, and children’s book author. For his TV work, he has been nominated for four Emmy Awards, winning one.
The post Do Uninformed Hollywood Celebrities Realize They Are Hurting Chances of a Gaza ‘Ceasefire’? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Sharaa Says Talks With Israel Could Yield Results ‘In Coming Days’
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks at the opening ceremony of the 62nd Damascus International Fair, the first edition held since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, in Damascus, Syria, Aug. 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that ongoing negotiations with Israel to reach a security pact could lead to results “in the coming days.”
He told reporters in Damascus the security pact was a “necessity” and that it would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity and be monitored by the United Nations.
Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.
Reuters reported this week that Washington was pressuring Syria to reach a deal before world leaders gather next week for the UN General Assembly in New York.
But Sharaa, in a briefing with journalists including Reuters ahead of his expected trip to New York to attend the meeting, denied the US was putting any pressure on Syria and said instead that it was playing a mediating role.
He said Israel had carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Syria and conducted more than 400 ground incursions since Dec. 8, when the rebel offensive he led toppled former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Sharaa said Israel’s actions were contradicting the stated American policy of a stable and unified Syria, which he said was “very dangerous.”
He said Damascus was seeking a deal similar to a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that created a demilitarized zone between the two countries.
He said Syria sought the withdrawal of Israeli troops but that Israel wanted to remain at strategic locations it seized after Dec. 8, including Mount Hermon. Israeli ministers have publicly said Israel intends to keep control of the sites.
He said if the security pact succeeds, other agreements could be reached. He did not provide details, but said a peace agreement or normalization deal like the US-mediated Abraham Accords, under which several Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel, was not currently on the table.
He also said it was too early to discuss the fate of the Golan Heights because it was “a big deal.”
Reuters reported this week that Israel had ruled out handing back the zone, which Donald Trump unilaterally recognized as Israeli during his first term as US president.
“It’s a difficult case – you have negotiations between a Damascene and a Jew,” Sharaa told reporters, smiling.
SECURITY PACT DERAILED IN JULY
Sharaa also said Syria and Israel had been just “four to five days” away from reaching the basis of a security pact in July, but that developments in the southern province of Sweida had derailed those discussions.
Syrian troops were deployed to Sweida in July to quell fighting between Druze armed factions and Bedouin fighters. But the violence worsened, with Syrian forces accused of execution-style killings and Israel striking southern Syria, the defense ministry in Damascus and near the presidential palace.
Sharaa on Wednesday described the strikes near the presidential palace as “not a message, but a declaration of war,” and said Syria had still refrained from responding militarily to preserve the negotiations.
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Anti-Israel Activists Gear Up to ‘Flood’ UN General Assembly
US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Anti-Israel groups are planning a wave of raucous protests in New York City during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) over the next several days, prompting concerns that the demonstrations could descend into antisemitic rhetoric and intimidation.
A coalition of anti-Israel activists is organizing the protests in and around UN headquarters to coincide with speeches from Middle Eastern leaders and appearances by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The demonstrations are expected to draw large crowds and feature prominent pro-Palestinian voices, some of whom have been criticized for trafficking in antisemitic tropes, in addition to calling for the destruction of Israe.
Organizers of the demonstrations have promoted the coordinated events on social media as an opportunity to pressure world leaders to hold Israel accountable for its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, with some messaging framed in sharply hostile terms.
On Sunday, for example, activists shouted at Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.
“Zionism is terrorism. All you guys are terrorists committing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza and Palestine. Shame on you, Zionist animals,” they shouted.
BREAKING: PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTORS CONFRONT “ISRAELI” AMBASSADOR DANNY DANON AT THE UNITED NATIONS
1/5 pic.twitter.com/4G1VYEMGzV
— Within Our Lifetime (@WOLPalestine) September 14, 2025
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), warned on its website that the scale and tone of the planned demonstrations risk crossing the line from political protest into hate speech, arguing that anti-Israel activists are attempting to hijack the UN gathering to spread antisemitism and delegitimize the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Outside the UN last week, masked protesters belonging to the activist group INDECLINE kicked a realistic replica of Netanyahu’s decapitated head as though it were a soccer ball.
US activist group plays soccer with Bibi’s mock decapitated HEAD right outside NYC UN HQ
Peep shot at 00:40
Footage posted by INDECLINE collective just as UN General Assembly about to kick off
‘Following the game, ball was donated to Palestinian Genocide Museum’ pic.twitter.com/TQ84sgZhKr
— RT (@RT_com) September 9, 2025
Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a radical anti-Israel activist group, has vowed to “flood” the UNGA on behalf of the pro-Palestine movement.
WOL, one of the most prolific anti-Israel activist groups, came under immense fire after it organized a protest against an exhibition to honor the victims of the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel. During the event, the group chanted “resistance is justified when people are occupied!” and “Israel, go to hell!”
“We will be there to confront them with the truth: Their silence and inaction enable genocide. The world cannot continue as if Gaza does not exist,” WOL said of its planned demonstrations in New York. “This is the time to make our voices impossible to ignore. Come to New York by any means necessary, to stand, to march, to demand the UN act and end the siege.”
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), two other anti-Israel organizations that have helped organize widespread demonstrations against the Jewish state during the war in Gaza, also announced they are planning a march from Times Square to the UN headquarters on Friday.
“The time is now for each and every UN member state to uphold their duty under international law: sanction Israel and end the genocide,” the groups said in a statement.
JVP, an organization that purports to fight for “Palestinian liberation,” has positioned itself as a staunch adversary of the Jewish state. The group argued in a 2021 booklet that Jews should not write Hebrew liturgy because hearing the language would be “deeply traumatizing” to Palestinians. JVP has repeatedly defended the Oct. 7 massacre of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel by Hamas as a justified “resistance.” Chapters of the organization have urged other self-described “progressives” to throw their support behind Hamas and other terrorist groups against Israel
Similarly, PYM, another radical anti-Israel group, has repeatedly defended terrorism and violence against the Jewish state. PYM has organized many anti-Israel protests in the two years following the Oct. 7 attacks in the Jewish state. Recently, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) called for a federal investigation into the organization after Aisha Nizar, one of the group’s leaders, urged supporters to sabotage the US supply chain for the F-35 fighter jet, one of the most advanced US military assets and a critical component of Israel’s defense.
The UN General Assembly has historically been a flashpoint for heated debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Previous gatherings have seen dueling demonstrations outside the Manhattan venue, with pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups both seeking to influence the international spotlight.
While warning about the demonstrations, CAM noted it recently launched a new mobile app, Report It, that allows users worldwide to quickly and securely report antisemitic incidents in real time.
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Nina Davidson Presses Universities to Back Words With Action as Jewish Students Return to Campus Amid Antisemitism Crisis
Nina Davidson on The Algemeiner’s ‘J100’ podcast. Photo: Screenshot
Philanthropist Nina Davidson, who served on the board of Barnard College, has called on universities to pair tough rhetoric on combatting antisemitism with enforcement as Jewish students returned to campuses for the new academic year.
“Years ago, The Algemeiner had published a list ranking the most antisemitic colleges in the country. And number one was Columbia,” Davidson recalled on a recent episode of The Algemeiner‘s “J100” podcast. “As a board member and as someone who was representing the institution, it really upset me … At the board meeting, I brought it up and I said, ‘What are we going to do about this?’”
Host David Cohen, chief executive officer of The Algemeiner, explained he had revisited Davidson’s remarks while she was being honored for her work at The Algemeiner‘s 8th annual J100 gala, held in October 2021, noting their continued relevance.
“It could have been the same speech in 2025,” he said, underscoring how longstanding concerns about campus antisemitism, while having intensified in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, are not new.
Davidson argued that universities already possess the tools to protect students – codes of conduct, time-place-manner rules, and consequences for threats or targeted harassment – but too often fail to apply them evenly. “Statements are not enough,” she said, arguing that institutions need to enforce their rules and set a precedent that there will be consequences for individuals who refuse to follow them.
She also said that stakeholders – alumni, parents, and donors – are reassessing their relationships with schools that, in their view, have not safeguarded Jewish students. While supportive of open debate, Davidson distinguished between protest and intimidation, calling for leadership that protects expression while ensuring campus safety.
The episode surveyed specific pressure points that administrators will face this fall: repeat anti-Israel encampments, disruptions of Jewish programming, and the challenge of distinguishing political speech from conduct that violates university rules. “Unless schools draw those lines now,” Davidson warned, “they’ll be scrambling once the next crisis hits.”
Cohen closed by framing the discussion as a test of institutional credibility, asking whether universities will “turn policy into protection” in real time. Davidson agreed, pointing to students who “need to know the rules aren’t just on paper.”
The full conversation is available on The Algemeiner’s “J100” podcast.