Artists4Ceasefire is a collective of actors, filmmakers, and other artists calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire during the

Israel–Hamas war An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place chiefly in and around the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. On that day, Palestinian militant groups launched 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, a surp ...

in Gaza, the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians, and the release of all hostages. The collective was started on October 20, 2023, two weeks after October 7 attack.

Open letter

In October 2023, 55 artists and entertainment industry members signed an open letter to President Joe Biden as part of the collective demanding a ceasefire. The letter has expanded to include hundreds of artists, including

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

Bella Bella is a feminine given name. It is a diminutive form of names ending in -bella. ''Bella'' is related to the Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Latin words for beautiful, to the name Belle, meaning ''beautiful'' in French. It increased in ...

and

Gigi Hadid Jelena Noura "Gigi" Hadid ( ; born April 23, 1995) is an American model and television personality. In November 2014, she made her debut in the Top 50 Models ranking at Models.com. In 2016, she was named International Model of the Year by the ...

, Michael Stipe,

Cate Blanchett Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received nu ...

Zayn Malik Zain Javadd Malik ( ; born 12 January 1993), known mononymously as Zayn, is an English pop and R&B singer. Zayn auditioned as a solo contestant for the British music competition television series ''The X Factor'' in 2010. After being eliminate ...

Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...

, Rachel McAdams,

Oscar Isaac Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada (born March 9, 1979) is a Guatemalan-born American actor. Known for his versatility, he has been credited with breaking stereotypes about Latino characters in Hollywood. He was named the best actor of his gener ...

, Bradley Cooper,

David Oyelowo David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo ( ; born 1 April 1976) is a British actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, ...

, Ben Affleck, John Cusack, Kristen Stewart,

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film ''Step Up (film), Step Up''. He gained wider attention for ...

Quinta Brunson Quinta Brunson (born December 21, 1989) is an American writer, producer, actress, and comedian best known for creating, executive producing, co-writing, and starring in the ABC comedy series ''Abbott Elementary'' (2021–present). Brunson gained ...

, Sandra Oh and

Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academ ...

, among many others. The letter reads: "We believe all life is sacred, no matter faith or ethnicity and we condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians." The letter's other signatories include Tom Hardy,

Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich; sr-Latn, Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; russian: Милица Богдановна Йовович; uk, Милиця Богданoвна Йовович ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovo ...

, Richard Gere,

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

Viggo Mortensen Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. R (; born October 20, 1958) is an American actor, writer, director, producer, musician, and multimedia artist. Born and raised in the State of New York to a Danish father and American mother, he also lived in Argentin ...

, Kirsten Dunst,

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...

, Alyssa Milano,

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...

, Brian Cox,

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

Andrew Garfield Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Tony Award, a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. ''Time'' ...

Alfonso Cuarón Alfonso Cuarón Orozco ( , ; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker. He is known for directing films in a variety of genres including the family drama ''A Little Princess (1995 film), A Little Princess'' (1995), the romantic drama ''Gre ...

, Selena Gomez, Janelle Monáe, Lupita Nyong'o, Hasan Minhaj, Jeremy Strong, Ayo Edebiri,

Jenna Ortega Jenna Marie Ortega (born September 27, 2002) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, receiving recognition for her role as young Jane in The CW comedy-drama series ''Jane the Virgin'' (2014–2019). Her breakthrough ro ...

, Mark Ruffalo, Cynthia Nixon,

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

and

Mark Rylance Sir David Mark Rylance Waters (born 18 January 1960) is a British actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Laurenc ...

Pin design

The Artists4Ceasefire enamel pin depicts an orange hand with a black heart inside on a red background. '' Snopes'' compared the orange hand used in the design to red-hand symbols including the

Red Hand of Ulster The Red Hand of Ulster ( gle, Lámh Dhearg Uladh), also known as the Red Hand Uí Néill, is a symbol used in heraldry to denote the Irish province of Ulster and the Northern Uí Néill in particular. However, it has also been used by other Ir ...

(a symbol used for the Irish province of

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

), the symbol for

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) is an epidemic of violence against Indigenous women in Canada, the United States, and Latin America; notably those in the FNIM (First Nations, Inuit, Métis) and Native American communities. Acros ...

(MMIW), and people criticizing Israel as having "blood on its hands" for its actions in Gaza. The Israeli government and ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' journalist

David Kaufman David Kaufman or Kaufmann may refer to: * David S. Kaufman (1813–1851), American politician * David Kaufman (actor) (born 1961), American actor and voice actor * David Kaufman (author), theater critic and author of biographies of Charles Ludlam ...

said that the symbol represents the

2000 Ramallah lynching The 2000 Ramallah lynching was a violent incident that took place on October 12, 2000 – early in the Al-Aqsa Intifada – at the el-Bireh police station, where a Palestinian people, Palestinian crowd of passing funeral marchers broke in and ki ...

. ''Snopes'' found no evidence that the design referenced the lynching.

Members of the collective

People wearing pins

Several attendees of the 2024 Academy Awards ceremony wore red Artists4Ceasefire badges, including Quannah Chasinghorse, Finneas O'Connell, Billie Eilish, Mark Ruffalo, Ava DuVernay,

Ramy Youssef Ramy Youssef ( ar, رامي يوسف; ; born March 26, 1991) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director of full Egyptian descent known for his role as Ramy Hassan on the Hulu comedy series '' Ramy'' (2019–present), for whic ...

Riz Ahmed Rizwan Ahmed (; ; born ) is a British actor and rapper. As an actor, he has won an Emmy Award and has received nominations for a Golden Globe and three British Independent Film Awards, and as a rapper he has won an Academy Award for the short ...

Mahershala Ali Mahershala Ali (; born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore, February 16, 1974) is an American actor. He has received multiple accolades, including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. ''Time'' magazine named him one of th ...

Kaouther Ben Hania Kaouther Ben Hania ( ar , كوثر بن هنية; born 1977) is a Tunisian film director. '' Beauty and the Dogs'' (2017), her best-known film, was selected as the Tunisian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. Her ...

and

Misan Harriman Misan Harriman (born 1977) is a Nigerian-born British photographer, entrepreneur and social activist. As well as being one of the most widely-shared photographers of the Black Lives Matter movement, Harriman is the first black man to shoot a cov ...

. Some attendees also wore Palestinian flag pins, including Milo Machado-Graner and

Swann Arlaud Swann Arlaud (born 30 November 1981) is a French actor. He has appeared in films such as '' Romantics Anonymous'' (2010), ''Les Anarchistes'' (2015), ''The Wakhan Front'' (2015) and '' Baden Baden'' (2016). Career In 2020 Arlaud won the César A ...

. In an interview at the event, Youssef said: At the 2024 Grammy Awards, musician

finished her tribute to

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...

by saying, "Artists for ceasefire, peace in the world". The members of

Boygenius Boygenius (stylized in all lowercase) is an American indie rock Supergroup (music), supergroup formed in 2018 by Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus. Their self-titled debut EP ''boygenius (EP), boygenius'' was written and recorded at ...

( Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker) and

Bo Burnham Robert Pickering "Bo" Burnham (born 1990) is an American comedian, musician, songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. His comedy work often combines musical, sketch, and stand-up elements with filmmaking. Following his success as one of the earliest ...

also wore Artists4Ceasefire pins. Tony Shalhoub and

Ebon Moss-Bachrach Ebon Moss-Bachrach (born March 19, 1977) is an American actor best known for playing the role of David Lieberman in ''The Punisher'' and Desi Harperin in ''Girls''. Since 2022, Moss-Bachrach has played Richard "Richie" Jerimovich in the drama s ...

wore the pins at the 2024

Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

. At the Directors Guild of America Awards in February 2024, Ruffalo wore the pin and said: "We’re not going to bomb our way to peace".

Endorsements

On October 27, 2023, Oxfam US declared its support for the collective via posts and stories on its Instagram account. On November 6, 2023, ActionAid USA released a statement of its support for the collective.

References

External links

* {{Israel–Hamas war, state=collapsed Reactions to the Israel–Hamas war in the United States 2023 establishments Anti-war movement Palestinian solidarity movement Ceasefires in the Arab–Israeli conflict