Fifty-five high-profile Hollywood stars came together to sign a letter addressed to Joe Biden asking for the sitting president to facilitate a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. In the letter, the A-listers plead to Biden to stop the growing war in the Middle East before bloodshed continues to increase.
Among those who signed the letter were actor and singer Jennifer Lopez, supermodel Gigi Hadid, comedian Jon Stewart, and actor Mark Ruffalo. This group of Hollywood royalty came together and surely thought that they had the sway to influence our federal government’s stance on foreign wars. And it wouldn’t be too shocking if they were right.
The letter begins, saying, “Dear President Biden, 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.”
The letter then continued with its main focus being detailed in the next paragraph. The stars wrote, “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… We believe all life is sacred, no matter faith or ethnicity and we condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.”
The article then went on to detail some of the horrors that took place during the month of October in the Gaza Strip, as were reported by mainstream news. The following paragraphs go on to unequivocally call for an ending to bombings of both Israeli and Palestinian land and a quick release of all hostages being helped by Hamas.
Next, the letter quotes UNICEF spokesperson James Elder.
He said, “Children and families in Gaza have practically run out of food, water, electricity, medicine and safe access to hospitals, following days of air strikes and cuts to all supply routes. Gaza’s sole power plant ran out of fuel Wednesday afternoon, shutting down electricity, water and wastewater treatment. Most residents can no longer get drinking water from service providers or household water through pipelines…. The humanitarian situation has reached lethal lows, and yet all reports point to further attacks. Compassion — and international law — must prevail.”
Explaining the reasoning for their position, the Hollywood A-listers took the moral high ground and noted that they believed their stance was the only one compatible with human decency.
They concluded, “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. We refuse to tell future generations the story of our silence, that we stood by and did nothing. As Emergency Relief Chief Martin Griffiths told UN News, “History is watching.”’
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