TEHRAN – In a statement addressed to "all freedom-loving people of the world," a group of more than 1800 Iranian artists and media professionals issued a plea for action to end the genocide that’s been taking place in Gaza since October 2023. 

In the past 18 months, Israel has pummeled Gaza with U.S.-supplied bombs, killed over 50,000 people, and razed entire neighborhoods to the ground. The regime’s actions have been characterized as a genocidal campaign by rights bodies, who have also been accusing Western states of enabling Israel to continue committing the harrowing crimes.  

Below is the full text of the statement: 

"Allah dislikes the disclosure of [anyone’s] evil [conduct] in speech except by someone who has been wronged, and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing." (Quran 4:148)

From representatives active in Iran’s culture and media to all freedom-loving people of the world:

“Let’s do something!”

A missile strikes the heart of a building, and the sound of the explosion fills the heavens. First, there’s smoke, dust, and fire rising into the air. Moments later, black specks fill the entire frame of the scene. They’re dots that are hurled into the sky at an unbelievable speed before plummeting to the ground. 

What are these dots? What has the force of the explosion left wandering between the sky and the earth? Time passes, and we realize those dots are hands, bodies, heads, and limbs. It’s human beings burning in the fire of the savagery of a handful of creatures viler than the vilest of beasts. These people have been torn apart and flung into the sky. Do you see that? That’s a human being who is burning and has been flung into the sky … in a land whose name is intertwined with suffering: Gaza.

We’re living in an era where it seems the world has grown accustomed to watching the unfiltered images of "genocide" in the Gaza Strip. So, shame on humanity if it sees the suffering in Gaza and remains silent.
Shame on humanity if it doesn’t speak out in the face of these clear, stark images of human slaughter.

Woe to the "international community" and the United Nations that sees the river of blood and the mountain of bodies of innocent people, yet they choose to remain silent.

Shame on the rulers of the "Islamic world" who lack even the strength displayed by the 50 government leaders who joined hands and held a march in protest against the blasphemous magazine Charlie Hebdo. They lack the courage to defend the honor of humanity or the dignity of Palestinian Muslims. Like corpses, they have fallen into a deathly silence in the face of the organized savagery of the Zionists.
And woe to us …

Woe to us if we witness this havoc and remain silent like all the disgraceful figures in today's history whose names have faded and become a source of shame for humanity.

We, a number of people who are active in the fields of culture and the media in Iran, can no longer tolerate witnessing the painful, sorrowful plight of Muslims in the Gaza Strip. With teary eyes and hearts brimming with rage against the Zionist enemy, we extend our hand in solidarity with anyone on this planet who considers themselves to be a "human being.” …

Sisters! Brothers! Fathers! Mothers! Dear people! We must raise our voices to express the suffering in Gaza with all our might. We must be the voices of Palestine and change the world into a battleground against the Zionist genocide being perpetrated by Israel’s brutal killing machine. Today, the Zionist regime is serving as a proxy for the oppressive US government in igniting flames in the West Asian region. Not only is it acting on behalf of that government, which is against human rights, but it also seeks to serve as Satan’s proxy on Earth. With this savage genocide, it’s setting not only the Gaza Strip but also the entire planet of "humanity" on fire.

Today, Gaza stands as the front line in the battle of humanity against Satan. We, imploringly, pleadingly call upon all those who still feel a pure heart beating within their chests to come together and "do something" for the oppressed people of Gaza. We must not remain silent. This is the very least we can do.