According to Variety, a list of more than 400 Hollywood celebrities signed a letter insisting that President Joe Biden “not rest” until Hamas releases the hostages it currently has in captivity. The group of A-listers launched the formal campaign and called it #NoHostageLeftBehind.
The letter, addressed to Biden, was released on Monday and began like this: “We are heartened by Friday’s release of the two American hostages, Judith Ranaanand her daughter Natalie Ranaan and by today’s release of two Israelis, Nurit Cooperand Yocheved Lifshitz, whose husbands remain in captivity.”
The letter stressed the urgency of the situation and confirmed that the celebrities are concerned that “20 innocent people, including 30 children, remain captive by terrorists, threatened with torture and death. They were taken by Hamas in the savage massacre of October 7, where over 1,400 Israelis were slaughtered - women raped, families burned alive, and infants beheaded.”
While the letter expressed the celebrities sincere concern and worry for those slaughtered and held captive, the A-listers also thanked Biden for his “unshakable moral conviction, leadership, and support for the Jewish people.”
They forgot to mention that Biden also offered $100,000,000 for Palestinian humanitarian assistance, some of whose citizens are supporting and encouraging Hamas’s violent attack against Israel. Biden’s also been relatively silent regarding the numerous pro-Palestine riots throughout the United States including at his back door in Washington D.C.
I don’t know about you but to me, that doesn’t seem like “support for the Jewish people.”
Nonetheless, the letter was signed by notable celebrities included but not limited to: Adam Scandler, Chris Rock, Gwynth Paltrow, Jerry Seinfield, Justin Timberlake, Andy Cohen and Will Farrell.
Bradley Cooper even signed it which is ironic because he’s presently dating anti-Israeli Gigi Hadid.
In a world that is so quick to conduct cancel culture tactics on celebrities who make one wrong move or offend one person just a little too much, it’s nice to see celebrities boldly take a stand against the violence of Hamas and urge our leader to get off his butt and do something about it.
At the same time as this move, there was an open letter to Palestine called Artists for Palestine UK. It was a pledge from close to 4,000 UK artists and cultural workers calling for a Gaza ceasefire. “In response to the call from Palestinian artists and cultural workers for a cultural boycott of Israel, we pledge to accept neither professional invitations to Israel, nor funding, from any institutions linked to its government until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights,” it said.
In regards to the #NoHostageLeftBehind letter, several of the A-Listers posted the letter to their social media pages that together, have the potential to reach hundreds of millions of viewers. Time will tell whether or not Biden responds or reacts.
The end of their letter concluded like this: “We all want the same thing: Freedom for Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side in peace. Freedom from the brutal violence spread by Hamas. And most urgently, in this moment, freedom for the hostages,” adding in another paragraph “We urge everyone to not rest until all hostages are released. No hostage can be left behind,” before noting that people of all nationalities need to be released from the hands of Hamas’ terror.
