Luvvies under fire for failing to condemn Hamas’ brutal terror attacks in open letter signed by 2,000 people including Tilda Swinton, Steve Coogan and Maxine Peake

• The letter was signed by actors, musicians and artists in the UK

An open letter signed by famous people in the UK has come under fire for failing to condemn Hamas’ brutal terror attacks. 

The letter was signed by more than 2,000 actors, musicians and artists in the UK, including Steve Coogan, Tilda Swinton, Miriam Margolyes and Maxine Peake.

It states: ‘Our governments are not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them.’

The artists condemn ‘every act of violence against civilians and every infringement of international law whoever perpetrates them’.

The letter has been criticised for not mentioning the terrorist group Hamas or its assault on Israel on October 7.

Armed Palestinian militant leading a man during the Supernova music festival, near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel

Noa Argamani, 25, a university student, screams ‘Don’t kill me! No, no.no,’ as she is seized by Hamas at the Nova electronic music festival in southern Israel. On October 7, Hamas terrorists attacked the festival in the desert near the Gaza-Israel border, killing at least 260 people

The message reads: ‘Gaza is already a society of refugees and the children of refugees.

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‘Now, in their hundreds of thousands, bombarded from air, sea and land, Palestinians whose grandparents were forced out of their homes at the barrel of a gun are again being told to flee – or face collective punishment on an unimaginable scale.’

Referencing Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant’s depiction of Palestinians as ‘human animals’, the signatories say Palestinians ‘have become people to whom almost anything can be done’.

They cite the UN’s undersecretary for humanitarian affairs Martin Griffiths, who has said that ‘the spectre of death’ is hanging over Gaza, and call for ‘an immediate ceasefire and the opening of Gaza’s crossings to allow humanitarian aid to enter unhindered’. 

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said on Wednesday that 3,478 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,000 injured in the past 11 days.

The letter was signed by actors, musicians and artists in the UK, including Steve Coogan (pictured), Miriam Margolyes and Maxine Peake

Maxine Peake was among the list of famous names to sign the statement

Tilda Swinton was also among the signatories. The letter states: ‘Our governments are not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them’

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.

On Monday, Actor Riz Ahmed called for ‘an end to the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza’s civilians’ amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The British actor, 40, who was nominated for an Oscar for the film The Sound Of Metal, said ‘staying silent is not an option’ as he blasted the ‘morally indefensible war crimes’.

Sharing a lengthy statement on social media, he wrote: ‘We are told there are two sides to what is happening in Israel and Palestine. But in my heart, I know there is only one – the side of our humanity.’

THE LETTER IN FULL 

‘We are witnessing a crime and a catastrophe. Israel has reduced much of Gaza to rubble, and cut off the supply of water, power, food and medicine to 2.3 million Palestinians. In the words of the UN’s undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, ‘the spectre of death’ is hanging over the territory.

Gaza is already a society of refugees and the children of refugees. Now, in their hundreds of thousands, bombarded from air, sea and land, Palestinians whose grandparents were forced out of their homes at the barrel of a gun are again being told to flee – or face collective punishment on an unimaginable scale. Dispossessed of rights, described by Israel’s minister of defence as ‘human animals’, they have become people to whom almost anything can be done.

Our governments are not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them. There will come a time when they are held to account for their complicity. But for now, while condemning every act of violence against civilians and every infringement of international law whoever perpetrates them, our obligation is to do all we can to bring an end to the unprecedented cruelty being inflicted on Gaza.

We support the global movement against the destruction of Gaza and the mass displacement of the Palestinian people. We demand that our governments end their military and political support for Israel’s actions.

We call for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of Gaza’s crossings to allow humanitarian aid to enter unhindered.’

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