Actors and entertainers, including Liev Schreiber, Mayim Bialik, Gene Simmons, Debra Messing, and Sharon Osbourne, are among more than 1,200 industry figures who have signed an open letter rejecting a pledge by 4,000 film professionals to boycott Israeli film institutions.

The statement, released Thursday by Creative Community for Peace and the Brigade, argued the boycott promotes antisemitic propaganda and silences artistic voices.

"We know the power of film. We know the power of story. That is why we cannot stay silent when a story is turned into a weapon, when lies are dressed up as justice and when artists are misled into amplifying antisemitic propaganda," the letter stated.

The response follows a pledge organized under the banner "Film Workers for Palestine," signed by actors and filmmakers including Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Olivia Colman, Javier Bardem, Ava DuVernay, and Riz Ahmed. 

That pledge called on signatories to avoid working with Israeli festivals, cinemas, broadcasters, or production companies described as "implicated in genocide" and "apartheid against the Palestinian people."

The counter-letter described that initiative as spreading misinformation.

"The pledge circulated under the banner of 'Film Workers for Palestine' is not an act of conscience. It is a document of misinformation that advocates for arbitrary censorship and the erasure of art," the signatories wrote. "To censor the very voices trying to find common ground and express their humanity, is wrong, ineffective and a form of collective punishment."

The letter also defended Israel's film community as diverse and independent. "Israel's film industry includes groundbreaking, celebratory and critical projects about Palestinians and Jews, which many of you have lauded and celebrated," it said. "Israel's entertainment industry is a vibrant hub of collaboration between Jewish and Palestinian artists and creatives, who work together every single day to tell complex stories that entertain and inform both communities and the world. Israeli film institutions are not government entities. They are often the loudest critics of government policy."

They also raised concerns about how complicity is defined.

 "The pledge uses nebulous terms like 'implicating' and 'complicity.' Who will decide which Israeli filmmakers and film institutions are 'complicit'? A McCarthyist committee with blacklists? Or is 'complicity' just a pretext to boycott all Israelis and Zionists — 95% of the world's Jewish population — no matter what they create or believe?"

The statement concluded with a direct call to the entertainment industry:

"If you want peace, call for the immediate release of the remaining hostages. Support filmmakers who create dialogue across communities. Stand against Hamas. Let art speak the whole truth. We call on all our colleagues in the entertainment industry to reject this discriminatory and antisemitic boycott call that only adds another roadblock on the path to peace."