Canadian rapper Drake is seen at the Toronto International Film Festival. Photo: Reuters/Mark Blinch
A group of musicians, actors and other celebrities have signed an open letter to US President Joe Biden on Friday, demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and a release of the hostages taken by the terrorist organization after its deadly invasion of the Jewish state earlier this month.
“We come together as artists and advocates, but most importantly as human beings witnessing the devastating loss of lives and unfolding horrors in Israel and Palestine,” explained the letter, which is supported by Oxfam America and ActionAid USA. “We ask that, as President of the United States, you and the US Congress call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost.”
Those who signed the open letter include Bradley Cooper — who plays famed Jewish composer Leonard Bernstein in the new film Maestro – Drake, who is Jewish, Jennifer Lopez, Rachel McAdams, Dua Lipa, Andrew Garfield, Diplo, Jessica Chastain, Sophia Bush, Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Stewart, America Ferrera, Bella Hadid, Ben Affleck, Mahershala Ali, Mark Ruffalo, Cate Blanchett, Channing Tatum and Jeremy Allen White.
The signatories went on to say they believe “all life is sacred, no matter faith or ethnicity,” and and that they condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians. The letter makes no mention of the Hamas terrorist organization by name — which slaughtered 1,400 Israelis and took more than 200 civilians hostage earlier this month — and instead noted that “more than 5,000 people have been killed in the last week and a half – a number any person of conscience knows is catastrophic.”
The letter also addressed the suffering of the “refugees and their descendants being forced to flee their homes” in the Gaza Strip, their need for humanitarian aid, and the Palestinian casualties of the airstrikes targeting Hamas targets in Gaza. There was no mention of the violence and destruction that Hamas carried out in Israel after it invaded the country on Oct. 7, murdered 1,400 Israelis and kidnaped more than 200 civilians.
“We urge your administration, Congress, and all world leaders, to honor all of the lives in the Holy Land and call for and facilitate a ceasefire without delay – an end to the bombing of Gaza, and the safe release of hostages,” the signatories told Biden. “Beyond our pain and mourning for all of the people there and their loved ones around the world we are motivated by an unbending will to stand for our common humanity. We stand for freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people – and a deep desire to stop more bloodshed.”