Thousands of musicians sign letter for Gaza ceasefire

Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Bikini Kill, Pulp, Lucy Dacus, Mogwai, Kali Uchis are among the thousands of musicians who have signed an open letter calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

More than 4000 artists have come together under the collective Musicians for Palestine, demanding a ceasefire as the war in Israel and Gaza continues.

“We speak out together in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom, justice and equal rights,” reads the letter. “We uphold the freedom of grassroots activists and artists worldwide to advocate and engage in peaceful means to achieve accountability, to fight injustice, and to pursue freedom, a just peace, and dignity.”

It continued: “Today, we demand an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian aid in Gaza, and an end to the siege. The day after, our vision of a just and peaceful future for all must be our most urgent task. We urge everyone who shares that vision to join us.”

Many artists have spoken out about the conflict in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, Dua Lipa, Run The Jewels’ Killer Mike, Michael Stipe and more wrote an open letter to President Biden, demanding “an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost”.

Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Mark Hamill and Jamie Lee Curtis were among 700 Hollywood figures who signed an open letter voicing their support for Israel. Over 2,000 names from the arts world, including Tilda Swinton and Massive Attack‘s Robert Del Naja, signed an open letter calling for ceasefire.

A group of Jewish celebrities and influencers also met with execs of the video app TikTok to voice their concerns regarding an apparent surge of antisemitic content and misinformation on app, following the 7 October Hamas attack. During the call, actor Sacha Baron Cohen told the TikTok execs: “What is happening at TikTok is, it is creating the biggest antisemitic movement since the Nazis. Shame on you.”

Then there’s the recent news that two actresses have been dropped and fired over statements related to the Israel Hamas war. 

Once again, these events have revealed the challenges Hollywood and the entertainment world faces over the extremely divisive geopolitical issue.