Getty/Chris Chapman/Michael Buckner for Deadline/Getty
A long list of prominent actors today released a letter addressed to President Biden asking him to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel.
Signatories include Mark Ruffalo, Jessica Chastian, Cate Blanchett, Quinta Brunson, Rosario Dawson, Oscar Isaac, Joaquin Phoenix, Alyssa Milano, Jon Stewart and many others. The list includes prominent Jewish, Muslim and Christian actors.
The full text of the letter is below.
Dear President Biden,
We come together as artists and advocates, but most importantly as people watching the devastating loss of life and unfolding horrors in Israel and Palestine.
We ask you, as President of the United States, to call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost. Over the past week and a half, more than 5,000 people have been killed – a figure that any conscientious person knows is catastrophic. We believe that all life is sacred, regardless of faith or ethnicity, and condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.
We call on your administration and all world leaders to honor the lives of all the inhabitants of the Holy Land and to call for and facilitate an immediate ceasefire – an end to the bombing of Gaza and the safe release of the hostages. Half of Gaza’s two million residents are children, and more than two-thirds are refugees and their descendants forced from their homes. Humanitarian aid must be delivered to them.
We believe that the United States can play a vital diplomatic role in ending suffering, and we join our voices with those of the US Congress, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, the International Committee of the Red Cross and many others. Saving lives is a moral duty. Echoing UNICEF, “Compassion and international law must prevail.”
As of this writing, more than 6,000 bombs have been dropped on the Gaza Strip in the past 12 days, killing one child every 15 minutes.
Beyond our pain and mourning for all people and their loved ones around the world, we are driven by the unwavering will to uphold our common humanity. We stand for freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people – and a deep desire to stop further bloodshed.
We refuse to tell future generations the story of our silence, of standing by and doing nothing. Emergency relief director Martin Griffiths told UN News: “History is watching.”
Signed:
Riz Ahmed
Mahershala Ali
Mo Amer
Cate Blanchett
Fifth Brunson
Farah Bsaiso
Jessica Chastain
Margaret Cho
David Cross
Cherien Dabis
Rosario Dawson
Ayo Edebiri
Fatima Farheen Mirza
America Ferrera
Dominic Fishback
Andrew Garfield
Ilana Glazer
Oscar Isaac
Shaka King
Elvira Lind
Aria Mia Loberti
McLemore
Michael Malarkey
Rooney Mara
Darius Marder
Vic Mensa
Alyssa Milano
Hasan Minhaj
India Moore
Sandra Oh
Joaquin Phoenix
Mark Ruffalo
Hand Sabri
Susan Sarandon
James Schamus
Amanda Seals
Anoushka Shankar
Alia Shaukat
Wallace Shawn
Sebastian Silva
John Stewart
Kristin Stewart
Jeremy Strong
Wanda Sykes
Michael Stipe
Amber Tamblyn
Bassam Tariq
Channing Tatum
Dominic Thorne
Michelle Wolf
Shailene Woodley
Ramy Youssef