Hundreds of leading artists, including Robert del Naja, Tai Shani, Lucy Skaer, Florence Peake, Paul Sepuya, Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Rosalind Nashashibi, are among the more than 2,000 leading actors, musicians, writers, film-makers and other creative artists calling for a ceasefirehere). in Gaza in an open letter. They claim that Palestinians are currently facing "collective punishment on an unimaginable scale" after Israel unleashed a "complete siege" on the area, launching air attacks and cutting off water, electricity, food and medical supplies to 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.
Directors Michael Winterbottom, Mike Leigh and Asif Kapadia; authors Marina Warner, Jacqueline Rose, Gillian Slovo and Courttia Newland; and poets Hugh McFadden and Anthony Anaxagorou are among the thousands of others who have signed the Artists for Palestine letter.
For now, says the letter, "our obligation is to do everything we can to end the unprecedented cruelty being inflicted on Gaza".
Photo: Smoke rises following an Israeli air strike in the town of Khan Yunis in Gaza, 18 October 2023. Copyrights Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa/Alay Live News.