Over 200 Hollywood actors, including Sylvester Stallone, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Seth Rogen, Mayim Bialik and Sarah Silverman, have signed a petition which strongly condemns Hamas and expresses support to Israel.

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The signatories state that they are "addened by the devastating loss of life endured by Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza" and are "pained by the suffering on both sides of the conflict and hope for a solution that brings peace to the region."

However, the petition then comes down hard on Hamas by stating: "We must also stand firm against ideologies of hatred and genocide which are reflected in Hamas’ charter, Article 7 of which reads, 'There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!' The son of a Hamas founder has also commented about the true nature of Hamas."

The petition asserts that "Hamas cannot be allowed to rain rockets on Israeli cities, nor can it be allowed to hold its own people 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."

It closes with a clear affirmation of its support for democratic freedoms: "We join together in support of the democratic values we all cherish and in the hope that the healing and transformative power of the arts can be used to build bridges of peace."

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Photo: Ken Ishii Getty)

It is widely believed that Hollywood has a leftist agenda. This can be seen from both the movies that it releases and its actors' political pronouncements, whether concerning the US or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One of the most famous examples is Sean Penn's visit to the Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, of whom he said upon his death that "I lost a friend I was blessed to have".

When Clint Eastwood's patriotic "American Sniper" came out, it was viciously attacked by Hollywood's liberals who considered it to be jingoistic. However, millions of Americans loved the film and it was a great success at the box office.

One of the most pro-Israeli actors is Jon Voight who during Operation Protective Shield had this to say at a pro-Israel rally in Las Vegas: “Every patriotic American Jew and non-Jew alike must show their outrage, that we will not tolerate propaganda and lies about Israel being the aggressors and suppressors of the Palestinians.” He added, “It seems anti-Semitism is very much alive.”