Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, and more call for SAG protections for actors supporting Palestine

Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, and many more are putting pressure on their union to speak out against the devastation in Palestine. Over 700 members of SAG-AFTRA have signed an open letter calling on the guild to issue a statement demanding a permanent ceasefire, condemn the violence against journalists, healthcare workers, and innocent civilians, and protect its members from the industry’s “McCarthyist repression of members who acknowledge Palestinian suffering” (e.g. what happened to Melissa Barrera when she was fired from the Scream franchise last November). 

“Following SAG-AFTRA’s statement in sympathy with Israel regarding October 7, many SAG-AFTRA and sister guild members have watched in horror as the Israeli government wages a war of collective punishment on the civilian population of Gaza—killing over 40,000 Palestinians, injuring over 90,000 more, forcibly displacing 2 million people, and openly targeting members of the press and their families,” the letter opens, before listing a number of other atrocities from the past 11 months. It continues: “Despite these clear violations of human rights and Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land and lives, our union leadership has remained silent.”

In a press release accompanying the letter, newly formed caucus SAG-AFTRA and Sister Guild Members for Ceasefire also claimed that the guild had ignored multiple requests for a ceasefire statement and “refus[ed] to even meet with members.” National MENA Committee Chair Amin El Gamal specifically described being “ignored for months” and then receiving calls “in hushed tones” from union staff who promised meetings but never followed up. In April, a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson acknowledged these demands for the first (and only, as the group notes) time when they told the Los Angeles Times that “requests for public statements… are currently under review,” but the caucus says they haven’t heard anything since.

“We are the labor that built and sustains this business. When our leaders can’t stand up publicly for peace and justice, then we must do what we always do: organize, fight for change, and win,” the letter continues. “Our guild leadership must join the largest and most diverse peace movement in a generation—the integrity of our legacy demands nothing less.”

Other well-known signatories include Rose O’Donnell, Common, Riz Ahmed, Bruce Cohen, Busy Phillips, Richa Moorjani, Cynthia Nixon, Sara Ramirez, Griffin Dunne, Indya Moore, and Tavi Gevinson.