The Writers Guild of America (WGAW) was not silent on #MeToo. Nor were they silent on the Black Lives Matter protests. What have they been silent on? The Israeli-Hamas war.

At least, until yesterday when they came out with a statement that was, well, half-hearted at best. The Writers Guild sent a message to its 11,500 members. On one side, nearly 400 writers have signed an open letter to The Writers Guild condemning the attacks and blasting the union for its silence. On the opposing side, another group of more than 300 creative guild members signed a second letter, urging unions to resist pressure to weigh in, which they argued could be seen as endorsing Israel’s response.

Let’s harken back to the message from The Writers Guild of America East on the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020:

The Writers Guild of America, East stands in solidarity with the protesters and activists fighting to end police violence and the systemic oppression of black people. On Friday the Guild issued a statement on the death of George Floyd, and today we are sharing links to organizations who are leading the fight to end white supremacy and provide assistance to allies and activists fighting on the front lines to eradicate racism.

We as a Guild, like our movement as a whole, must recommit to the struggle against racism in the economy, in civil society, and in our industries. Our union has taken the lead in fighting to make film, television and news (broadcast and digital) more inclusive.”-The Writers Guild of America East

Here’s the rewrite: We, as a Guild, side with the domestic terrorists who are tearing up our streets and lighting police cars ablaze. Also, we, as a Guild, do not feel like it is in our purview to condemn horrific acts of violence on Israeli women and children.

Apparently, the Writers Guild did not realize their silence on the loss of life in Israel was so painful to some. In fact, they “caused pain that they did not intend”. According to Writers Guild West President, Meredith Stiehm, the “consensus (was) out of reach” on how to respond to such a “contentious issue”.

Huh? How many show runners and writers in Hollywood are Jewish? Just throwing this question out there.

Honestly, that’s shameful. If you can’t reach a consensus on condemning terrorism then what could you possibly reach consensus on?”-Marc Guggenheim, Member of Writers Guild of America West

Here come the excuses:

In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks, we did not issue a public statement, not because we were not horrified by the atrocities, but because it felt outside the purview of a U.S. labor union representing writers to comment on it. “-WGAW

Why the angry faces? C’mon, now. They did not comment on other international atrocities…

We did not, for example, make a comment after Russia invaded Ukraine, nor on terrorist attacks in Somalia, Pakistan or elsewhere. It can be an imprecise science for a labor union to pick and choose where it weighs in on both domestic and world affairs.”-WGAW

An “imprecise science“, indeed. More:

We are American labor leaders, aware of our limitations and humbled by the magnitude of this conflict. However, we understand this has caused tremendous pain and for that we are truly sorry.”-WGAW

Their response to an open letter of Writers Guild members, calling out for Guild Membership to acknowledge that Hamas terrorists invaded Israel to murder, rape, and kidnap Jews? Here you go:

All of us in Guild leadership are horrified by the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7th. The murder of so many innocent people in Israel is an abomination. We deeply mourn the deaths of innocent Palestinians ensnared in the violence in Gaza. We feel for all our members who have been affected, directly and indirectly. We hope that wisdom prevails in the region – and for the safety of all innocent people caught in the escalating violence.”-WGAW

If your team can't condemn the planned and very intentional murder/rape/torture of innocent children, women, elderly, etc, then you're on the wrong team. Period. Of course Hollywood is loaded w/ stupid, ignorant, narcissistic, brainwashed @assh@les, so no surprise. Sickening.

— Sarcastibull (@SarcastiBS) October 25, 2023

In truth, 100 years from now, it is not going to matter that the Writers Guild sounded off on #MeToo, or BLM or even the Israel-Hamas war. Still, there are some Hollywood types condemning the violence on Palestine that Israel is inflicting. They want a cease-fire.

You don’t get to rape, shoot, stab, butcher, torture, kill, behead, mutilate, terrorize, burn to death, & kidnap over 1,400 innocent men, women & children, and then get your cheerleaders & friends around the world to call for a “ceasefire.”

Fuck that. That’s not how this works.

— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) October 22, 2023

And, for crying out loud, when you call attention to it (AHEM-Writers Guild West)-make sure you deflect as much blame as possible off of your organization by calling this utter lack of acknowledgement an “imprecise science”.

That makes this a whole lot better, don’t you think?

Photo Credit: Amanda Scott, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons