by Jeroslyn JoVonn
October 31, 2023
Drake has been catching heat for seemingly remaining silent in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. But the Jewish-born rapper has joined with other A-list stars in calling for a ceasefire.
Drake has been catching heat for seemingly remaining silent in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. But the Jewish-born rapper has joined with other A-list stars in calling for a ceasefire.
The Grammy award-winning rapper joined celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Killer Mike, Dua Lipa, Lena Waithe, Vic Mensa, Miguel, and many more in signing the Artists4Ceasefire letter that urges President Joe Biden and Congress to get Israel and Hamas to agree to end their current war, Billboard reports.
We urge your administration, and all world leaders, to honor all of the lives in the Holy Land and call for and facilitate a ceasefire without delay – an end to the bombing of Gaza, and the safe release of hostages,” the letter reads in part.
Others who signed the letter include Adam Lambert, Michael Stipe, Caroline Polachek, Kaytranada, Macklemore, Cate Blanchett, Joaquin Phoenix, John Cusack, and others. The letter calls out the thousands of lives that have been lost in the ongoing war that’s carried out over the last three weeks.
“More than 5,000 people have been killed in the last week and a half – a number any person of conscience knows is catastrophic. We believe all life is sacred, no matter faith or ethnicity and we condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians,” the letter continued.
“Half of Gaza’s two million residents are children, and more than two-thirds are refugees and their descendants being forced to flee their homes. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach them.”
The letter comes weeks after another letter demanding a ceasefire in Gaza as well as calling for humanitarian aid in the region, Variety reports. The Artists for Palestine UK letter was signed by British stars like Tilda Swinton, Charles Dance, Steve Coogan, Miriam Margolyes, Michael Winterbottom, Mike Leigh, and Asif Kapadia. The letter blasted the British government for “not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them.”
Drake and DJ Khaled have faced criticism for not making a public statement about the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Earlier this month, Drake’s father Dennis Graham claimed his son would face harder blowback in the event he did speak out publicly.
“If you say something about this one, you’re going to get criticized, and if you say something about someone else, you’re going to get criticized,” Graham told TMZ.
According to Drake’s dad, it’s best for his superstars like his son to “stay out of it. Especially if you’re somebody that’s well-known, but be a celebrity and say something favoring one over the other, and it’s gonna come back on you.”
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