Hollywood rose up in the days and weeks following the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
Stars signed open letters decrying Hamas’ ghoulish attack which killed 1,200 people and tortured many more.
The documentary “Screams Before Silence” tells the shocking story.
Amy Schumer, Debra Messing, Patricia Heaton and Michael Rapaport led the charge, leveraging their social media platforms to pummel Hamas and demand the terrorist group release its hostages.
NEW: In the first major move from Hollywood backing Israel, 700+ celebrities and entertainment executives have signed an open letter condemning Hamas and demanding the safe return of hostages. https://t.co/4uCtjL8gjr
— Elizabeth Wagmeister (@EWagmeister) October 12, 2023
That was then.
Hollywood mostly went back to normal shortly thereafter. In recent months the industry ignored the hostages during awards season and turned a blind eye to the raging antisemitism across college campuses.
Comic institutions couldn’t rally on behalf of persecuted Jews, nor did they call out the glaring double standards attached to Israel’s response to the terror attacks.
The politically-active industry, by and large, lost its voice.
And it gets worse. We’ve seen several Jewish artists canceled in recent weeks.
Why? In some cases the powers that be cited “safety concerns.” Others proved fuzzier on the details.
The canceled stars include author/actor Brett Gelman (“Stranger Things”), musician Matisyahu, actor/comedian Michael Rapaport and now Eden Golan.
The Israeli Eurovision singer is slated to appear at the Malmo-based competition this week, but security insisted she barricade in her hotel room between performances.
Why?
Pro-Palestinian protesters swarmed the city and the security officials feared for her safety.
A crowd estimated by police at more than 10,000 marched through the southern Swedish city on Thursday to chants of “Free Palestine” and “Israel is a terror state.” Banners accused Eurovision of being complicit in genocide and called for a boycott of the competition.
A fellow artist is practically hiding in an attic because of her Jewish faith. So where are her fellow musicians? Why aren’t they rallying to her side?
As quiet as Hollywood actors have been of late, musicians have been collectively worse from the jump.
One exception? John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting fame. The Grammy-nominated singer performed his hit “Superman” and his new song “OK” in Tel Aviv last month.
This week, he shamed his fellow musicians for their chronic silence on the issue. He also singled out Macklemore, the singer who just released a pro-Palestinian anthem.
Eden Golan, our fellow artist, cannot leave her hotel room in fear for her life because she is Jewish. This is 2024. I call on every artist to join me in condemning publicly this despicable act of hate. This is a time for choosing. Your silence is complicit. @Eurovision… pic.twitter.com/Qi2lrAtGIv
— John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) May 9, 2024
Eden Golan, our fellow artist, cannot leave her hotel room in fear for her life because she is Jewish. This is 2024. I call on every artist to join me in condemning publicly this despicable act of hate. This is a time for choosing. Your silence is complicit [emphasis added].
Golan, Rapaport and company aren’t on IDF’s front lines, storming Gaza to root out Hamas terrorists. They’re Jewish artists who just want to sing, tell jokes or share their stories with the world.
Some even openly support Israel’s right to exist.
For that, they’ve been punished, canceled or threatened. And our artist class won’t say a word about it.
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