Hollywood veteran Jon Voigt has taken strong objection to a letter signed by Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem among others likening Israel's action against Gaza to "genocide".

The open letter was published in a Spanish newspaper last week and called for the blockade on Gaza to be lifted.  The letter also called upon the EU to "condemn the bombing by land, sea and air against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip". 

Voigt took to the media to air his disdain for the "ignorant" views expressed in the letter, writing an angry column in response in the Hollywood Reporter.  

"My name is Jon Voight and I am more than angry. I am heartsick that people like Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem could incite anti-Semitism all over the world and are oblivious to the damage they have caused," he said.  

"They are obviously ignorant of the whole story of Israel's birth, when in 1948 the Jewish people were offered by the UN a portion of the land originally set aside for them in 1921, and the Arab Palestinians were offered the other half.

"The Arabs rejected the offer, and the Jews accepted, only to be attacked by five surrounding Arab countries committed to driving them into the sea. But the Israelis won."

The staunch Republican wrote further that Israel had "always laboured for a peaceful relation with its Arab neighbours" and suggested Cruz and the other names on the letter "have forgotten how this war started".  

"Did Hamas not kidnap and kill three young teenagers for the sake of killing, and celebrated after the killing?  What a travesty of justice," he wrote.  

He concludes by suggesting that they seek forgiveness for lighting a "fire of anti-Semitism" around the world and that they instead Israel as the "only democratic country of goodwill in the Middle East".