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More than 5,000 actors, directors and producers have joined the pledge not to work with Israeli film institutions<\/a> they say are \u201ccomplicit in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people<\/a>\u201d since it launched in September. <\/p>\n Signatories have expanded from the original 1,200 signatories when it was first announced. Superman<\/i> star David Corenswet<\/a>\u2019s name was added on Monday by Film Workers for Palestine<\/a> before the advocacy group removed it on Tuesday. <\/p>\n The National <\/i>has contacted Corenswet and the group for comment. An unconfirmed statement from the group released by the Instagram account Celebrities4Palestine said it had fallen victim to a \u201ctroll [who] went to great lengths to pretend to be David Corenswet in correspondence\u201d.<\/p>\n The American actor, 32, who will also appear in 2026’s Supergirl<\/i>, is a rising star in Hollywood. Many interpreted the recent Superman <\/i>film, which grossed more than $600 million at the global box office, to be critical of Israel<\/a>. <\/p>\n Other confirmed signatories include Academy Award winners Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo and Javier Bardem, as well as actors Josh O\u2019Connor, Ayo Edebiri, Riz Ahmed and Tilda Swinton. Acclaimed directors Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos, Adam McKay and Joshua Oppenheimer are also among those supporting the pledge, published by advocacy group.<\/p>\n Arab film and television figures including actors Bassem Youssef<\/a>, Dhafer L’Abidine, Dina Shihabi and Khalid Abdalla as well as directors Farah Nabulsi<\/a>, Annemarie Jacir and Hany Abu-Assad have also added their names to the list.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 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,\u201d the group said in a joint statement.<\/p>\n The signatories say they are responding to appeals from Palestinian filmmakers urging the global industry to \u201crefuse silence, racism and dehumanisation\u201d and to \u201cdo everything humanly possible\u201d to end complicity in their oppression.<\/p>\n The pledge cites the International Court of Justice\u2019s ruling that there is a \u201cplausible risk of genocide in Gaza\u201d and that Israel\u2019s occupation and apartheid policies are unlawful. It defines complicity as including \u201cwhitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and\/or partnering with the government committing them\u201d.<\/p>\n Film Workers for Palestine said: \u201cDespite operating in Israel\u2019s 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 recognised rights of the Palestinian people.\u201d<\/p>\n Organisers said the declaration takes inspiration from the 1987 campaign Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, founded by Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme and others to oppose US distribution of films in apartheid South Africa.<\/p>\n Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mike Lerner described the new pledge as \u201can essential non-violent tool to undermine the deadly impunity that Israel and its allies currently enjoy\u201d.<\/p>\n The move comes amid a growing wave of protest in the entertainment industry. In recent months, members of the US actors\u2019 union Sag-Aftra have published an open letter,<\/a> while Equity UK passed a motion<\/a> affirming performers\u2019 rights to speak out. The Norwegian Actors Equity Association has also recommended members reject work<\/a> with Israeli cultural institutions.<\/p>\n \u201cStanding in solidarity with Palestinian filmmakers shouldn\u2019t only be on us as individual artists,\u201d said actor Amin El Gamal, chair of Sag-Aftra’s National Mena Committee. \u201cOur unions \u2013 which were built on solidarity \u2013 have an ethical and legal obligation to take meaningful action until Israel ends its genocide and apartheid.\u201d<\/p>\n Screenwriter and director David Farr, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, said his decision to sign was shaped by personal history. \u201cI am distressed and enraged by the actions of the Israeli state, which has for decades enforced an apartheid system on the Palestinian people \u2026 In this context I cannot support my work being published or performed in Israel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The full published pledge is as follows.<\/p>\n As filmmakers, actors, film industry workers and institutions, we recognise the power of cinema to shape perceptions. 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.<\/p>\n The world\u2019s highest court, the International Court of Justice, has ruled that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, and that Israel\u2019s occupation and apartheid against Palestinians are unlawful. Standing for equality, justice and freedom for all people is a profound moral duty that none of us can ignore. So too, we must speak out now against the harm done to the Palestinian people.<\/p>\n We answer the call of Palestinian filmmakers, who have urged<\/a> the international film industry to refuse silence, racism and dehumanisation, as well as to ‘do everything humanly possible’ to end complicity in their oppression.<\/p>\nCall from Palestinian filmmakers<\/b><\/h2>\n
Historic parallels<\/b><\/h2>\n
Wider industry response<\/b><\/h2>\n
Film Workers for Palestine’s pledge <\/b><\/h2>\n