As the unfathomable depths of atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians becomes more and more clear and disturbing, celebrities who often speak out on the Middle East conflict — regardless of where they stand on the issue — seem to share a commonality in this instance of struggling with how to respond to this unprecedented tragedy.
Kylie Jenner was one of the first celebrities to post a pro-Israel message to Instagram last Saturday, where she shared an image from a pro-Israel account @StandWithUs of Israel's flag along with the caption “Now and always, we stand with the people of Israel!” Then, she abruptly deleted the message after receiving substantial backlash and numerous pictures posted of the Palestinian flag in her comments section.
Rumors also began to swirl that the post deletion may be related to her friendship with Palestinian model Bella Hadid, who might have been offended by the message.
Now, as the incomprehensible scope of Hamas' assault is coming into sharper focus, Kylie Jenner is once again facing criticism — this time for deleting the message of support for Israel in the first place (although her mom Kris Jenner did post a comment denouncing Hamas as a terrorist organization).
Bella Hadid, meanwhile, was facing angry comments on her own social media feed for not responding to the conflict at all yet.
It appears to be a no-win situation for celebrities deciding whether or not to weigh in on the crisis — celebrities that are choosing to respond are often criticized for not being informed enough to weigh in on the subject, while those that aren't responding are being shamed for remaining silent on such a horrible attack.
The problem seems to be that many people see any incident in the region as part of the broader Arab-Israeli conflict, and quickly retreat to their respective sides in the debate.
The actress Susan Sarandon, for instance, reposted some links about Israel’s bombing of Gaza and a description of the territory as “prison”-like, sidestepping the horrific events that preceded Israel's response.
Bella Hadid's sister, Gigi Hadid, posted a message to Instagram on Tuesday, which appeared to be aiming at a more measured response. She first reiterated her “deep empathy and heartbreak for the Palestinian struggle” but she did also add that she feels “a responsibility to my Jewish friends to make it clear, as I have before: While I have hopes and dreams for Palestinians, none of them include the harm of a Jewish person.”
She added that “The terrorizing of innocent people is not in alignment with & does not do any good for the ‘Free Palestine' movement.”
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Former NBA star and Israeli citizen Amar'e Stoudemire spoke very emotionally in his own social media video post about the horrors of the tragedy. He called out what he saw as the cowardliness and painfulness of the silence from others not yet condemning the atrocities.
Much of the free world, including the United States and President Biden, are speaking out against what Hamas has done in Israel, and making clearer than they ever have that the group is a terrorist organization — with the slaughter they've caused in Israel tragically unique in this case.
Hopefully drawing distinctions like this will help other celebrities start to feel more comfortable speaking out against the massacres in Israel, as more and more despicably gruesome and violent assaults on civilians continue to come to light.
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