Palestine - Al Sharqiya October 18: Two thousand artists around the world signed a letter accusing governments of aiding and abetting Israel in war crimes in Gaza, stressing that the Palestinians face collective punishment on an unimaginable scale, and calling on governments to end their military and political support for Israel’s actions.
Among the 2,000 signatories are prominent international names such as Tilda Swinton, Charles Dance, Steve Coogan, Miriam Margolyes, Peter Mullan, Maxine Peake and Khaled Abdullah.
The list of signatories included various fields of arts, and they agreed in the letter that their country's governments not only tolerate war crimes, but also aid and abet them.
Signatories include directors Michael Winterbottom, Mike Leigh and Asif Kapadia, comedians Frankie Boyle and Josie Long, authors Marina Warner, Jacqueline Rose, Gillian Slovo and Courtia Newland, and poet Anthony Anaxagoro.
The artists, including Robert del Naja and playwrights Tanika Gupta and Abby Spalen, condemned “every act of violence against civilians and every violation of international law, by whomsoever committed.”
Recalling Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant's portrayal of Palestinians as "human animals," the letter said Palestinians "have become people to whom almost anything can be done."
The artists, including plastic artists Tai Shani, Orit Ashry, Larissa Sansour, Rosalind Nashashibi, and B., say: Stav, Florence Beck, and Georgina Starr, it is in Gaza that “Palestinians whose ancestors were forced to abandon their homes at the barrel of a gun are once again being asked to flee, or face collective punishment on an unimaginable scale.”
The signatories include producers, curators, writers, arrangers, architects and designers who support “the global movement against the destruction of Gaza and the mass displacement of the Palestinian people.”
The letter cites UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths, who said that “the specter of death” hangs over Gaza, and calls for “an immediate ceasefire and the opening of Gaza’s crossings to allow unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid.”
