Several more queer celebs, including Joe Locke, pledge not to work with Israeli film companies

The number of film industry professionals who have signed a pledge not to work with Israeli film institutions that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people” has neared 4,000. 

The pledge, shared on 8 September by campaign group Film Workers For Palestine, initially received 1,300 signatories, including The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri, The Roses’ Olivia Coleman, The History of Sound’s Josh O’Connor, and The White Lotus’s Aimee Lou Wood.

By Wednesday 10 September, the number of signatories had more than doubled, surpassing 3,900.

The list of Hollywood talent who have now signed the pledge includes a number of queer stars, such as Heartstopper’s Joe Locke, Saturday Night Live’s Bowen Yang, Close To You’s Elliot Page, and House of the Dragon’s Emma D’Arcy. 

Other new names to take the pledge include Nicola Coughlan, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Andrew Garfield, Harris Dickinson and Guy Pearce.

Stars who signed the pledge agree “not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions” –  such as film festivals or production companies – that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”.

The group stated that “complicity” in Israel’s military action in Gaza includes “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid” and “partnering with he government committing them”.

“In this urgent moment of crisis, where many of our governments are enabling the carnage in Gaza, we must do everything we can to address complicity in that unrelenting horror,” the group wrote in a statement on its website.

“Despite operating in Israel’s system of apartheid, and therefore benefiting from it, the vast majority of Israeli film production and distribution companies, sales agents, cinemas and other film institutions have never endorsed the full, internationally-recognized rights of the Palestinian people.”

The group states that the pledge is in response to calls from Palestinian filmmakers, and is inspired by the 1987 group Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, whose members refused to have their films screened in apartheid South Africa.

As the number of international stars refusing to engage with “complicit” Israeli film institutions grows, professionals inside the country’s film industry are starting to speak out.

In a statement shared with The Guardian on 10 September, the chairman of Israel’s screenwriters guild Nadav Ben Simon dubbed pleas to “boycott” Israeli creators as “deeply troubling”.

“For decades, Israeli creators, artists, and storytellers – myself included – have devoted our work to reflecting the complexity of our reality,” he wrote.

“We have consistently given voice to Palestinian narratives, criticism of government policies, and the diverse perspectives that shape our society.”

He added that boycotting would not “advance the cause of peace” and would instead “harm” those who are committed to “building bridges” between people.

Earlier this month, the world-leading International Association of Genocide Scholars declared that Israel’s action in Gaza met the UN convention’s definition of a genocide.

In August, a UN-backed group monitoring world hunger also declared that Gaza is experiencing a famine.

Conversely, earlier this week, the UK government concluded that Israel is not committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, as it deemed that Israel is not “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.