In February 2015 you published a letter from UK artists announcing their intention to culturally boycott Israel.

We do not believe cultural boycotts are acceptable or that the letter you published accurately represents opinion in the cultural world in the UK.

JK Rowling is one of the signatories to Culture for Coexistence’s plea not to boycott Israel. Photograph: David Cheskin/PA

Therefore we are writing to declare our support for the launch and aims of Culture for Coexistence – an independent UK network representing a cross-section from the cultural world.

We will be seeking to inform and encourage dialogue about Israel and the Palestinians in the wider cultural and creative community. While we may not all share the same views on the policies of the Israeli government, we all share a desire for peaceful coexistence.

Cultural boycotts singling out Israel are divisive and discriminatory, and will not further peace. Open dialogue and interaction promote greater understanding and mutual acceptance, and it is through such understanding and acceptance that movement can be made towards a resolution of the conflict.

Ultimately we all believe in a two-state solution so that the national self-determination of both peoples is realised, with the state of Israel and a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security.

Cultural engagement builds bridges, nurtures freedom and positive movement for change. We wholly endorse encouraging such a powerful tool for change rather than boycotting its use.



Naomi Alderman

Shay Alkalay

Bennett Arron

Daniel Battsek

John Battsek

Guto Bebb MP

Gina Bellman

Michael Berg

Josh Berger

Bob Blackman MP

Neil Blair

Iwona Blazwick

Elli Bobrovizki

Gabi Bobrovizki

Melvyn Bragg

David Burrowes MP

Teresa Cahill

Colin Callender

Simon Chinn

Danny Cohen

Frank Cohen

Prof Susan Collins

Wendy Cope

Loraine da Costa

Marcus Davey

Oliver Dowden MP

Ruth Dudley Edwards

Michael Dugher MP

Brian Elias

Yigal Elstein

Allie Esiri

Michael Etherton

Moris Farhi MBE

Niall Ferguson

Stanley Fink

Larry Finlay

Amanda Foreman

Michael Foster

Andrew Franklin

Nick Fraser

Mike Freer MP

Julian Friedman

Sonia Friedman

Jonny Geller

Adèle Geras

David Glick

Taryn Gold

Amanda Goldman

Richard Goldstein

Michael Grade

Maurice Gran

Linda Grant

Miriam Gross

Tom Gross

Stephen Grosz

Peter & Martine Halban

Jan Harlan

Ronald Harwood

Noreena Hertz

John Heyman

Lilian Hochhauser

Tom Holland

John Howell MP

Judy Ironside

David Japp

Andrea Jenkyns MP

Zygi Kamasa

Jack Kirkland

Evgeny Kissin

Michael Kuhn

David Kustow

Norman Lebrecht

Sam Leifer

Teddy Leifer

Camilla Lewis

David Levy

John Levy

Maureen Lipman

Andrew Macdonald

Hilary Mantel

Stephen Margolis

Dan Marks

Laurence Marks

Denis MacEoin

Charlotte Mendelson

Yael Mer

Ivan Moscovich

Maajid Nawaz

Anthony Newman

Gavin Newman

Hayley Newstead

Paula Noble

Tracy-Ann Oberman

Matthew Offord MP

Cosh Omar

Martin Paisner

Robin Pauley

Leo Pearlman

Daniel Peltz

Andrew Percy MP

Eric Pickles MP

Stuart Polak

Monica Porter

Gail Rebuck

Charlie Redmayne

Andrew Roberts

JK Rowling

Paul Ruddock

Prof Carol Rumens

Marc Samuelson

Charles Robert Saumarez Smith

Prof Robert Saxton

Joanna Scanlan

Kenny Schachter

Simon Schama

Simon Sebag Montefiore

Francesca Segal

Anthony Seldon

Rick Senat

Zaab Sethna

Jonathan Shalit

Bernard Shapero

David Shelley

Clive Sinclair

Daniel Silver

Lucy Silver

Dan Silverston

Chloe Smith MP

Karen Smith

Mark Smith

Prof Ashley Solomon

Claire Speller

Rob Suss

George Szirtes

Paul Trijbits

Kevin Tsjiuhara

Gabe Turner

Moni Varma

Rebecca Wallersteiner

Minette Walters

Zoë Wanamaker

Angela Watkinson MP

George Weidenfeld

Fay Weldon

Heather Wheeler MP

Robert Winston

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg

David Young

Toby Young

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

• The list of signatories on this letter was amended on 23 October 2015. An earlier version included the names Jonathan Aycliffe and Daniel Easterman. They are in fact pen names used by another signatory, Denis MacEoin, and had been included in error with the submitted letter.