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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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‘Fine Scholar’: UC Berkeley Chancellor Praises Professor Who Expressed Solidarity With Oct. 7 Attacks
University of California, Berkeley chancellor Dr. Rich Lyons, testifies at a Congressional hearing on antisemitism, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on July 15, 2025. Photo: Allison Bailey via Reuters Connect.
The chancellor of University of California, Berkeley described a professor who cheered the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre across southern Israel a “fine scholar” during a congressional hearing held at Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
Richard K. Lyons, who assumed the chancellorship in July 2024 issued the unmitigated praise while being questioned by members of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, which summoned him and the chief administrators of two other major universities to interrogate their handling of the campus antisemitism crisis.
Lyons stumbled into the statement while being questioned by Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), who asked Lyons to describe the extent of his relationship and correspondence with Professor Ussama Makdisi, who tweeted in Feb. 2024 that he “could have been one of those who broke through the siege on October 7.”
“What do you think the professor meant,” McClain asked Lyons, to which the chancellor responded, “I believe it was a celebration of the terrorist attack on October 7.” McClain proceeded to ask if Lyons discussed the tweet with Makdisi or personally reprimanded him, prompting an exchange of remarks which concluded with Lyons’s saying, “He is a fine scholar.”
Lyon’s comment came after nearly three hours in which the group of university leaders — which included Dr. Robert Groves, president of Georgetown University, and Dr. Felix V. Matos Rodriguez, chancellor of the City University of New York (CUNY) — offered gaffe-free, deliberately worded answers to the members’ questions to avoid eliciting the kind of public relations ordeal which prematurely ended the tenures of two Ivy League presidents in 2024 following an education committee held in Dec. 2023.
Rep. McClain later criticized Lyons on social media, calling his comment “totally disgraceful.” She added, “Faculty must be held accountable and Jewish students deserve better.”
CUNY chancellor Rodriguez also triggered a rebuke from the committee members in which he was also described as a “disgrace.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, CUNY campuses have been lambasted by critics as some of the most antisemitic institutions of higher education in the United States. Last year, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) resolved half a dozen investigations of antisemitism on CUNY campuses, one of which involved Jewish students who were pressured into saying that Jews are White people who should be excluded from discussions about social justice.
During Tuesday’s hearing Rodriguez acknowledged that antisemitic incidents continue to disrupt Jewish academic life, disclosing that 84 complaints of antisemitism have been formally reported to CUNY administrators since 2024. 15 were filed in 2025 alone, but CUNY, he said, has published only 18 students for antisemitic conduct. Rodriguez went on to denounce efforts to pressure CUNY into adopting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, saying, “I have repudiated BDS and I have said there’s no place for BDS at the City University of New York.”
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) remarked, however, that Rodriguez has allegedly done little to address antisemitism in the CUNY faculty union, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), which has passed several resolutions endorsing BDS and whose members, according to 2021 ruling rendered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), discriminated against Professor Jeffrey Lax by holding meetings on Shabbat to prevent him and other Jews from attending them.
“The PSC does not speak for the City University of New York,” Rodriquez protested. “We’ve been clear on our commitment against antisemitism and against BDS.”
Later, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), whose grilling of higher education officials who appear before the committee has created several viral moments, rejected Rodriguez’s responses as disingenuous.
“It’s all words, no action. You have failed the people of New York,” she told the chancellor. “You have failed Jewish students in New York State, and it is a disgrace.”
Following the hearing, The Lawfare Project, legal nonprofit which provides legal services free of charge to Jewish victims of civil rights violations, applauded the education committee for publicizing antisemitism at CUNY.
“I am thankful for the many members of Congress who worked with us to ensure that the deeply disturbing facts about antisemitism at CUNY were brought forward in this hearing,” Lawfare Project litigation director Zipora Reich said in a press release. “While it is deeply frustrating to hear more platitudes and vague promises from CUNY’s leadership, we are encouraged to see federal lawmakers demanding accountability.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Huckabee Calls for Israeli Investigation Into ‘Criminal and Terrorist’ Killing of Palestinian-American in West Bank
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Monday urged Israeli officials to swiftly investigate the killing of Saif Musallet, a 20-year-old American citizen who was allegedly beaten to death by Israeli settlers while he was visiting family in the West Bank town of Sinjil.
“There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act,” Huckabee wrote on social media, in what is one of his strongest condemnations of Israeli settler violence since he was appointed by President Donald Trump in November 2024. “Saif was just 20 yrs old.”
Musallet, a Florida native, was reportedly attacked on July 11 by a group of Israelis while accompanying relatives on family-owned farmland near Ramallah. His family says he was severely beaten and denied medical attention for nearly three hours before succumbing to his injuries. Another Palestinian man, 23-year-old Mohammad al-Shalabi, was shot and killed during the same incident, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israeli authorities said the violence followed an alleged rock-throwing incident that left two Israelis lightly wounded, a common occurrence in the West Bank which las left scores of Israelis civilians wounded and some killed. The Israel Defense Forces stated they used non-lethal crowd dispersal methods during the clash. The IDF says the incident is under investigation. Two Israeli minors were arrested following the attack, though according to Israeli media reports, neither of them is a murder suspect, and they were subsequently released to house arrest.
Musallet had traveled to the West Bank in early June to visit relatives and potentially meet a bride. Raised in Port Charlotte, Florida, he had recently co-founded an ice cream business in Tampa with his family. His death comes amid an escalation in settler-related violence across the West Bank, which has intensified since the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and the Israeli military’s ongoing campaign in Gaza.
Huckabee has historically defended Israeli settlement activity and has vowed to serve as an unwavering defender of the Jewish state.
Human rights groups and local activists say Musallet’s killing is part of a growing pattern of impunity for attacks on Palestinians, including American citizens. No Israeli suspects have been indicted in several high-profile deaths of Palestinian Americans in recent years, including journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and teenager Omar Mohammad Rabea.
U.S. lawmakers, including Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL), who represents Tampa, joined calls for an investigation. The State Department said it is aware of the incident and is providing consular support to the family but deferred further comment to Israeli authorities.
Musallet’s funeral was held Sunday in his family’s hometown of al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya. His relatives say they are demanding justice not only for Saif, but for all Americans caught in what they describe as an increasingly lawless situation in the occupied West Bank.
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Scandal-Plagued UN Commission Disbands Amid Increasing US Pressure Against Anti-Israel International Organizations
Miloon Kothari, member of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, briefs reporters on the first report of the Commission. UN Photo/Jean Marc Ferré
The Commission of Inquiry (COI), a controversial United Nations commission investigating Israel for nearly five years, has collapsed after all three of its members abruptly resigned days after the United States sanctioned a senior UN official over antisemitism.
Commission chair Navi Pillay resigned on July 8, citing health concerns and scheduling conflicts. Her fellow commissioners, Chris Sidoti and Miloon Kothari, followed suit days later. While none of the commissioners directly linked their resignations to the U.S. sanctions, the timing suggests mounting American pressure played a decisive role.
The resignations came just one day before the Trump administration announced sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories. Albanese was sanctioned over what the State Department called a “pattern of antisemitic and inflammatory rhetoric.” She had previously claimed that the U.S. was controlled by a “Jewish lobby” and questioned Israel’s right to self-defense. The sanctions bar her from entering the U.S. and freeze any assets under American jurisdiction.
The resignations mark a major victory for critics who have long viewed the inquiry as biased and politically motivated.
Watchdog groups, including Geneva-based UN Watch, celebrated the swift collapse of the Commission of Inquiry (COI), which they say had long operated with an open mandate to target Israel. “This is a watershed moment of accountability,” said UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer. “The COI was built on bias and sustained by hatred. Its fall is a victory for human rights, not a defeat.”
The COI had faced heavy criticism since its formation in 2021. In July 2022, Commissioner Miloon Kothari, made comments about the undue influence of a so-called “Jewish lobby” on the media, said the COI would “have to look at issues of settler colonialism.”
“Apartheid itself is a very useful paradigm, so we have a slightly different approach, but we will definitely get to it,” he added.
The Commission was established in 2021 year following the 11-day war between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas group in May. COI is the first UN commission to ever be granted an indefinite period of investigation, which has drawn criticism from the US State Department, members of US Congress, and Jewish leaders across the world.
Following the resignations, Council President Jürg Lauber invited member states to nominate replacements by August 31. However, it is unclear whether the commission will be reconstituted or quietly shelved. UN Watch and other groups have urged the council to disband the COI entirely, calling it irreparably biased.
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