'Hypocrisy': Zadie Smith faces backlash after signing letter calling for Gaza ceasefire
On Wednesday, a total of 380 writers and organisations signed a letter condemning the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza as “genocidal” and urged for an immediate ceasefire.
Among the signers were Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan, Russell T Davies, Hanif Kureishi, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, and George Monbiot.
The letter states that describing the situation in Gaza as "genocide" or involving "acts of genocide" is no longer a matter of debate among international legal experts or human rights groups. It was also signed by notable authors and figures such as William Dalrymple, Jeanette Winterson, Brian Eno, Kate Mosse, Irvine Welsh, and Elif Shafak.
This letter coincided with another letter published on Thursday to the UK government by 300 British artists, doctors, activists and academics, who urged British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to end UK complicity in Gaza war crimes and help broker an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
Singer-songwriter Dua Lipa, actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Brian Cox, Toby Jones, Andrea Riseborough, and broadcaster Gary Lineker are among the signatories of this letter.
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Some of the letter's signatories, like Lineker and Cox, for instance, have been vocal about the war for months, but many others have remained silent.
While many on social media cheered on these letters and supported the calls for a ceasefire by such prominent names, many said the letter was a little too late.
We reject these letters. The time has passed for these letters to have any legitimacy. These letters are now used to whitewash the silence and worse whitewash the active complicity of authors like @ZadieSmith in the genocide of the Palestinian people. https://t.co/tqouO4zZXD
— Danya (@dandoon_danya) May 28, 2025
Specifically regarding the letter signed by Smith and other authors, many social media users expressed anger due to her previous comments about Israel and Palestine in a 4 May 2024 New Yorker article.
In this article, while talking about Israel’s war on Gaza and the crackdown on pro-Palestinian students on western campuses, Smith wrote, “In the case of Israel/Palestine, language and rhetoric are and always have been weapons of mass destruction.”
At the time, many on social media harshly criticised these statements, saying that Smith compared the language of the students protesting in support of Palestine to weapons of mass destruction.
Today, when the letter by Smith and other prominent authors came out, the same anger resurfaced, with many showing their resentment towards the author.
Zadie Smith signed an open letter calling Israel's actions in Gaza genocide. When tens of thousands of Palestinians had already been killed, she was calling for "nuance." Now, she's trying to save her reputation. I threw all her books in the bin and will never buy another.
— Carlos Azevedo (@cprazevedo) May 28, 2025
Many suggested that Smith helped “manufacture consent for criminalising Palestine solidarity campus protests” with that New Yorker article, but now is only trying to “save her career”.
Zadie Smith helped manufacture consent for criminalizing Palestine solidarity campus protests by calling protest slogans "weapons of mass destruction," and now she wants to subscribe to the letter calling it a genocide. Girl, fuck all the way off
— Anita Zsurzsan 🇵🇸 🕎 (@iamjourjean) May 28, 2025
Many social media users said that Smith is only “trying to rewrite her culpability” because of the discourse she used in the New Yorker article, criminalising students and having a reductive stance on Israel’s war on Gaza.
God give me the strength to handle repulsive pro-genocide people trying to rewrite their culpability. The day started with Zadie "I know I said protesting genocide is evil but now it wins Pulitzers so I changed my mind" Smith and now this absurdity. https://t.co/mixyME7b5J
— Heidi N. Moore (@moorehn) May 28, 2025
In the face of such letters, many social media users also referred to what they termed as “hypocrisy” and “two-siding” Israel’s war on Gaza, which until now has killed over 54,000 people since October 2023.
Worth revisiting this Radar now that Zadie Smith has come around a year later. I'm glad she's signed the pro-Palestine letter. I just wish it didn't take over year and a half of obvious genocide for her to stop both sidesing the issue. https://t.co/QzJmztH70m
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) May 29, 2025
Since Israel’s war on Gaza started, many prominent artists have repeatedly called for a ceasefire and a stop to the war on the enclave.
These letters are the latest examples of such calls, and they have garnered more reaction and support because they include prominent figures from the film and literary worlds.
Artists have also faced censorship and criticism from pro-Israeli supporters due to their advocacy for Palestine.
One example of this was when over 750 artists signed a letter criticising the Royal Academy of Arts for “anti-Palestinian censorship” after it removed two artworks about Israel’s war on Gaza from its Young Artists’ Summer Show.
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