DHAKA: Two Hollywood stars Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem were among many Spanish names in the industry to sign an open letter condemning the Israeli ‘genocide’ in Gaza on July 25.

‘It makes my blood boil,’ Kavanaugh told The Hollywood Reporter a week later, reports gulfnews.com.

‘As the grandson of Holocaust survivors, anyone calling it Israeli ‘genocide’ vs protecting themselves are either the most ignorant people about the situation and shouldn’t be commenting, or are truly anti-Semitic.’

‘I’m extremely disappointed in Hollywood for its silence in the face of this letter… They don’t get it,’ he added.

Kavanaugh, whose ‘Relativity’ has been behind big name flicks such as ‘21 Jump Street’, ‘The Social Network’ and ‘Fast & Furious 6’, later claimed that he received over 500 phone calls, texts and email messages of support within 24 hours of speaking out against Cruz and Bardem’s letter.

The letter said, ‘Gaza is living through horror these days, besieged and attacked by land, sea and air. Palestinians’ homes are being destroyed, they are being denied water, electricity [and] free movement to their hospitals, schools and fields while the international community does nothing’.

The Hollywood Reporter also cites several unnamed Hollywood executives who were ‘contacted by THR privately’, and who were allegedly in agreement with Kavanaugh’s sentiments.

Some of them declared they would not be working with the actors again, or were hesitant to, while others stated they were ‘furious’ with the couple.

On August 2, actor Jon Voight, estranged father of Angelina Jolie, wrote a letter in response to Cruz and Bardem, urging them to ‘hang your heads in shame’ as well as ‘come forth with deep regrets for what you did, and ask forgiveness from the suffering people in Israel’.

BDST: 1924 HRS, AUG 11, 2014