Creative Community for Peace
Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) is a front for the right-wing pro-Israel lobby group StandWithUs (SWU), that has close ties to the Israeli Foreign Ministry. It is a 501(c)3 organization that does business under the name Israel Emergency Alliance,[1], aka StandWithUs.
The membership of its board overlaps with SWU, it has shared an office with the same organisation, is a legally registered trading name of SWU and has received donations through SWU.
It works to counter the cultural boycott of Israel and - despite its own political allegiances - claims 'music and the arts should not be politicized'.[2]
Operation Protective Edge (2014)
After a number of high profile celebrities expressed public criticism of Israel and/or sympathy for Gaza during 'Operation Protective Edge' (Jul-Aug 2014), Creative Community for Peace published a statement signed by nearly 200 entertainment industry workers condemning Hamas for its '[ideology] of hatred and genocide, its rocket attacks on Israel and for holding Gazans 'hostage':
Hospitals are for healing, not for hiding weapons. Schools are for learning, not for launching missiles. Children are our hope, not our human shields.[3]
Signatories included Kelsey Grammer, Haim Saban, Ziggy Marley, Seth Rogen, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
On 13 September 2014 CCFP published the statement, along with a list of signatories, as a full page ad on p. A7 of the New York Times.[4] The statement was also reportedly published in Billboard, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood.[5]
CCFP's website at this time included a special thank you message to the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles for a 'Cutting Edge' grant 'that is allowing us to expand our work'.
Resources
- Phan Nguyen, '"Apolitical" arts organization combatting BDS is front for pro-settler group tied to Israeli foreign ministry', Mondoweiss, 24 October 2013.
- Did LA pro-Israel group conceal right-wing identity from Hollywood celebs and media?, Adalah-NY, 2 September 2014.
Notes
- ↑ 'Support Us', CreativeCommunityforPeace.com (accessed 14 September, 2014)
- ↑ Phan Nguyen, '"Apolitical" arts organization combatting BDS is front for pro-settler group tied to Israeli foreign ministry', Mondoweiss, 24 October 2013, accessed 9 September 2014
- ↑ 'Statement from Creative Community for Peace and Friends', Creative Community for Peace, <a href="http://tinyurl.com/n68hfhk">http://tinyurl.com/n68hfhk</a>; links in original. Cf. 'Nearly 200 Hollywood stars sign petition supporting Israel', The Tower (25 August, 2014).
- ↑ Zach Noble, 'Think Hollywood Is Anti-Israel? Page A7 of Saturday’s New York Times Might Make You Reconsider', The Blaze (13 September, 2014),
- ↑ 'Pro-Israel Ad Signed by 300 Hollywood Professionals and Celebrities Appears in The New York Times', The Tower (14 September, 2014).
