The complex and brutal conflict in Syria has defied the best efforts of peace negotiators and humanitarian officials for more than five years, but a new group of luminaries is weighing in on a war that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives: celebrities.
More than two dozen actors, singers and other prominent people have signed a petition urging the Nobel Prize committee to award its 2016 Peace Prize to a group of volunteer rescue workers toiling in cities across the war-torn country. The move draws attention to both the horror of the conflict and the growing willingness of well-known Americans to adopt it as a cause celebre.
The White Helmets, also known as the Syria Civil Defence, are a group of volunteer emergency workers who rush to the scene of air strikes in civilian areas of cities like Aleppo, which was once the country’s largest but is now divided between rebel groups and the regime of President Bashar Al Assad.
His government has rained bombs on citizens for years, and the White Helmets say they have pulled more than 60,000 people alive from the rubble.
The petition may have no impact on who gets the Nobel Peace Prize, which will be awarded on October 7. But its organiser, an advocacy group called the Syria Campaign, said it was hopeful that the celebrities’ endorsement of the rescue workers, as well as an upcoming Netflix documentary about them, were signals of growing concern for the plight of Syrian civilians, who they say have often been overshadowed in the West by concerns about refugees and Daesh.
Raed Saleh, the leader of the White Helmets, said in a statement that it was a “huge morale boost” to see increased international support for their work, especially from people they recognised from the movies. The signatories include George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Daniel Craig, Justin Timberlake, Aziz Ansari and Zoe Saldana.
“For international stars to stand next to the White Helmets’ humanitarian cause gives a morale boost for all people doing this work,” Saleh said.
“We deeply appreciate this support and remain determined to rescue as many souls as possible and create the opportunity for peace. This is our mission.”
Here is the full list of public figures who have endorsed the nomination:
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director
Alfonso Cuaron, director
Alicia Keys, artist/activist
Andrew Mitchell, UK Member of Parliament
Andy Serkis, actor/director
Anne McLaughlin, UK Member of Parliament
Annika Rabo, Stockholm University
Aziz Ansari, comedian actor
Bear Grylls, Chief Scout
Ben Affleck, filmmaker
Chiwetel Ejiofor, actor
Chris Martin, musician
Damon Albarn, musician
Daniel Craig, actor and UNMAS goodwill ambassador
Daniel Day Lewis, actor
Daniel Hopkins, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Dave Eggers, author
Dr Rowan Williams, Former archbishop of Canterbury
Edward Norton, actor and UN goodwill ambassador for Biodiversity
Fred Kempe, Atlantic Council
George Clooney, actor
Glenys Kinnock, Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead
Guy Berryman, musician
Isla Fisher, actor
Jeff Smith, UK Member of Parliament
Jo Cox, UK Member of Parliament
Joe Wright, director
Joel Kinnaman, actor
John Shattuck, Rector of the Central European University
Jonny Buckland, musician
Justin Timberlake, entertainer
Karl Ove Knausgård, author
Linn Ullman, novelist
Marjane Satrapi, director, writer and illustrator
Michael Palin, actor, writer and traveller
Michael Williams, Chatham House
Michelle Yeoh, actor and UNDP goodwill ambassador
Miles Teller, actor
Padma Lakshmi, host and author
Philip S Khoury, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ridley Scott, director and producer
Roger Godsiff, UK Member of Parliament
Rodrigo y Gabriela, musicians
Sacha Baron Cohen, actor, comedian and screenwriter
Thandie Newton, actor
Wendy Chamberlin, Middle East Institute
Will Champion, musician
Vanessa Redgrave, actress
Zoe Saldana, actress
