WGA East will not officially condemn Israel’s attacks; “This may seem inappropriate to some of you,” leadership told members

Just minutes after some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and executives released a letter condemning the terrorist attacks on Israel and the taking of hundreds of hostages, the WGA East publicly joined the leadership of the West Coast Guild in voting to end the ending murderous siege not to mention the Jewish state of Israel. was two weeks ago.

WGAE President Lisa Takeuchi Cullen and others in leadership acknowledged that it “will seem inadequate to some of you” and officially stated that the guild would not comment on it for political reasons. At the same time, they noted on their personal social media feed that they were denouncing “the atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel on October 7 and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

“We hope you will persevere in these difficult times,” begins the correspondence with members. “Some of you have contacted us in recent weeks about whether or not the WGA East will make a public statement on Israel and Gaza. We want to explain why this is not the case.”

At least 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured in Hamas’ bloody surprise attack on October 7 in the bloodiest attack on the Jewish people since World War II.

In that regard, the WGAE letter sent on Monday continued: “Just over a year ago, the WGAE East underwent a referendum to find a way forward as a guild that is now 40% journalists.” In doing so, we as leadership agreed to recuse ourselves from public statements that did not directly affect our guild, our industries, or the labor movement. Such statements have hampered the work of journalists and divide us rather than unite us. We have made two such statements since the referendum, both to protect reporters.”

The letter states that their “own personal feelings … are not enough” and concludes, “Representing a diverse workforce means that our union is strong enough to represent many different views.” However, we want to be clear: There is absolutely no place for anti-Semitism or Islamophobia in this guild.”

The letter was signed by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen with Erica Saleh, vice president of film/TV/streaming. Sara David, vice president, online media; Kathy McGee, Vice President, Broadcast/Cable/Stream News; and Chris Kyle, secretary-treasurer.

While the WGA on both coasts has decided not to provide support to Israel or those attacked, the DGA and the ever-flashy SAG-AFTRA have long issued statements condemning “the heinous acts of aggression against the people of Israel 7 October” condemned. Major agencies WME, CAA and UTA made similar comments.

Disney’s Bob Iger and Dana Walden both reached out to their employees about the attacks and crisis, as did Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav. Previously, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Haim Saban, UTA co-founder Jim Berkus, CAA’s Chris Silbermann, SpyGlass’ Gary Barber, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz, Paramount’s Brian Robbins and others said: “We stand in full solidarity in the global fight against terrorism with Israel. “. “

Together, Disney, Comcast, Skydance and others have donated millions to Magen David Adom, an affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and other organizations.

There were protests around the world over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the attacks on Israel. Thousands of Palestinians are estimated to have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the past two weeks. Israel has ordered the immediate evacuation of civilians from the area as efforts to free hundreds of hostages have been delayed as nearly 300,000 of its soldiers prepare to enter Gaza. The Israeli government and the IDF have said their goal is to eliminate Hamas leaders and destroy the group’s ability to ever carry out terror attacks again.