On Sept. 8, 2025, Film Workers for Palestine published a pledge calling for a boycott of
The number of signatories grew to more than 2,000 by Sept. 9, according to NPR, then to more than 4,000 at time of publication, according to the pledge's website.
On social media, however, some posts alleged that signers had pledged not to work with Jewish people in general. For instance, the U.S. based nonprofit group StopAntisemitism shared an X post about the pledge from Variety, a major entertainment industry publication, commenting that Jewish people in the film business should boycott the pledge-signers in retaliation
Every single one of their Jewish agents should drop them. Boycott Jews? We're going to boycott you right back. #ModernDayNazis
Snopes readers wrote in and searched the site looking for more information on the claim. The claim was false, as the pledge called for a boycott of Israel's film industry, not Jewish people. In fact, the pledge's Frequently Asked Questions page (archived) explicitly noted that the boycott was not against individuals and that signatories were welcome to work with Israeli people.
Does this pledge prohibit me from working with Israeli individuals?
No. The call is for film workers to refuse to work with Israeli institutions that are complicit in Israel's human rights abuses against the Palestinian people. This refusal takes aim at institutional complicity, not identity.
The Film Workers for Palestine website featured the following statement, published in English, Spanish, French, Turkish, Arabic and Japanese:
As filmmakers, actors, film industry workers, and institutions, we recognize the power of cinema to shape perceptions. In this urgent moment of crisis, where many of our governments are enabling the carnage in Gaza, we must do everything we can to address complicity in that unrelenting horror.
The world's highest court, the International Court of Justice, has ruled that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, and that Israel's occupation and apartheid against Palestinians are unlawful. Standing for equality, justice, and freedom for all people is a profound moral duty that none of us can ignore. So too, we must speak out now against the harm done to the Palestinian people.
We answer the call of Palestinian filmmakers, who have urged the international film industry to refuse silence, racism, and dehumanization, as well as to 'do everything humanly possible' to end complicity in their oppression.
Inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid who refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa, we pledge not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions—including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies—that are implicated* in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.
* Examples of complicity include whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government committing them.