Celebrities demand US arms embargo on Israel, alleging human rights violations
Artists4Ceasefire group, founded in October to demand halt to Gaza war, launches new campaign with NGOs; hundreds signed group’s first petition
A celebrity activist group formed in the first weeks of the Israel-Hamas war to call for a stop to the fighting embarked on a new campaign Thursday demanding that the United States stop supplying weapons to Israel, citing “grave human rights violations.”
The Artists4Ceasefire group launched the initiative alongside non-profits Oxfam America, ActionAID, and Children in Conflict.
“Our demand is simple — our elected leaders must enforce existing US and international humanitarian laws,” said actor Mark Ruffalo, a leader of the group, according to Variety.
Other public faces of the campaign were actors Ilana Glazer, Mahershala Ali and Cynthia Nixon.
The activists specifically cited American and international law banning the supply of weapons for “striking schools or hospitals, restricting humanitarian aid, [or] killing children.”
The Hamas terror group, in its war against Israel, frequently uses schools, hospitals, and other civilian sites as bases of operation, leading to regular strikes on those sites when they’re used to launch attacks on Israeli forces. Israel denies ever targeting civilians.
#Artists4Ceasefire https://t.co/WzDyUjs47G
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) March 11, 2024
The collective’s short call to action was advertised using new artwork created for the occasion by Shepard Fairey, a contemporary artist best known for creating the iconic “Hope” poster supporting Barack Obama for US president in 2008, as well as the popular “OBEY” clothing line.
The campaign was launched some ten months after Artists4Ceasefire first made headlines last October, when its petition, signed by dozens of A-list celebrities, called for “immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost.”
The October petition has since been signed by more than 470 figures in the entertainment industry, including Jon Stewart, Ariana Grande, Ruffalo, and other high-profile talents.
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel from the enclave, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, amid many acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Israel responded with a counteroffensive in Gaza with the goals of destroying Hamas, returning the hostages, and preventing any security threat from the territory in the future.
Artists4Ceasefire also made headlines in March, when celebrities attending the Academy Awards in Los Angeles wore small red pins handed out by the group.
The call for an arms embargo came days after the United Kingdom announced it would suspend 30 of its 350 weapons licenses to Israel, citing a risk the equipment might be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.
British exports amount to less than one percent of the total arms Israel receives, and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament the suspension would not have a material impact on Israel’s security.
The move by Britain’s Labour government was “not enough, but it’s a start,” said Ruffalo.
Activists in the United States have long been pressing President Joe Biden to cut off arms exports to Israel amid the war.
The demand has gained some backing among Democrats in Congress, but the executive branch has consistently refused, with the exception of one heavy weapons shipment in advance of Israel’s invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Activists have also pressed US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the Democrats’ nominee for president in the coming November election, to endorse an arms embargo. After reports that she had agreed to talk about the proposal earlier this summer, the Harris campaign clarified that it opposed the policy.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
