BySARAH CHEMLA

As tensions in the Middle East continue after more than a week of escalating violence, more than 130 leaders from the entertainment industry gathered by the organization Creative Community for Peace signed an open letter calling for “peace, balanced discourse and an end to inflammatory one-sided accounts” of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), an apolitical, non-profit entertainment industry organization, was founded in 2012 by David Renzer, former chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing, and Steve Schnur, worldwide executive & music president, Electronic Arts.

The first-of-its-kind open letter calling for peace urged entertainment community leaders to use their voice, influence and platforms to "call for the de-escalation of violence and the end to divisive rhetoric while also acknowledging the pain and loss impacting all parties involved in the conflict."

This divisive rhetoric, stated the organization, serves only to foment an already incendiary crisis that has, this past week alone, claimed more than 200 lives.

The joint statement was signed by Michael Bublé, Sherry Lansing, Gene Simmons, Meghan McCain, Selma Blair, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Haim Saban, Diane Warren, Orly Agai Marley, David Draiman, Ben Silverman and Matisyahu, among many others. The open letter was made public on Friday.

“I pray for peace,” said Saban, who was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and moved with his family to Tel Aviv when he was 12. 
 
“There has to be a way to sit down and talk through differences,” said Simmons, who was born in Haifa, in northern Israel, and emigrated with his family to the states at the age of eight. “I pray for peace. For all.”

“We are deeply concerned by the escalating violence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories,” the letter read. “The loss of life and violence is heartbreaking. We call on the leaders of all parties to end the violence, urge calm, and work toward de-escalation.”


 

“WE ALSO call on our colleagues and friends in the entertainment community to stop posting misinformation and one-sided narratives that only work to inflame the conflict instead of bringing about peace,” the statement continued.

“Misinformation that is being spread online and then amplified by social media influencers, influencers with no real knowledge of what is happening, is only working to inflame the situation, instead of working to de-escalate it and work through some sort of resolution to the situation,” CCFP director Ari Ingel said. 

“The misleading and fallacious memes that are being posted from people that have no real concept of what is happening there and are not experts on the conflict are just making a horrible situation far worse,” he said.

"The open letter is also to inform the public that Hamas is playing a leading role in this violence,” Ingel said.
 
“While we may have differing views on whether the evictions are legitimate or not legitimate, that doesn’t take away from Hamas firing these missiles indiscriminately at civilian populations in Israel, which affects Arabs and Jews,” the director said. “People need to call on [Hamas] to stop firing missiles and stop inflaming the situation.”  

Last Wednesday, Gal Gadot released a carefully worded statement on her social media accounts decrying the war and violence, using rather generic language and not assigning blame. However, her words ignited a backlash and she disabled comments on her Instagram and Twitter accounts.
 
Her statement read: “My heart breaks. My country is at war. I worry for my family, my friends. I worry for my people. This is a vicious cycle that has been going on for far too long. Israel deserves to live as a free, safe nation. Our neighbors deserve the same. I pray for the victims and their families, I pray for this unimaginable hostility to end, I pray for our leaders to find the solution so we could live side by side in peace. I pray for better days.”
 
Her words received a great deal of attention. The Pnai Plus entertainment website headlined an article about the controversy: “‘Wonder Woman wake up!’ How Gal Gadot became a public enemy,” among many others who criticized the superstar.

Hannah Brown contributed to this report.