Pro-Palestine and Pro-Israel Celebrities

During the latest Israeli offensive on Gaza, more than 1,918 Palestinians lost their lives, including more than 400 children (most of them civilians), and about 10,000 others were wounded. Israel has lost two civilians and 64 soldiers.

World-Wide Celebrities used social media (particularly Twitter and Facebook) to express their opinions about escalating Israeli fire on Gaza, condemning Israeli army (IDF) and showing solidarity with the Palestinians.

The horrible attack on Gaza motivated an increasing number of artists and celebrities to criticize Israel and call for boycotting it, which was something unexpected since Israeli lobby is controlling 90% of the media around the world, as well as the governments.

For US and most of EU governments, any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism and is not accepted. It’s the same in Hollywood: criticizing Israel is forbidden!

Lately, about 100 Spanish film professionals, including Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz, signed an open letter in July accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in its assault against Gaza. Many other actors reused the letter such as Jon Voight, Joan Rivers and Howard Stern.

Due to the strong ties between Hollywood and Israel, Hollywood has been silent. However, many celebrities raised their voices and stand with Palestine.

Pro-Palestine Celebrities

Christiano Ronaldo

Image Credit: Wikimedia - Christiano Ronaldo
Image Credit: Wikimedia – Christiano Ronaldo

It’s not the first time for Ronaldo to show his support for Palestine. The Portuguese football celebrity and Real Madrid’s superstar made a donation of 1.5 million-euro to the children of Gaza in 2012.

This step came after he donated the Golden Shoe he had been awarded in 2011, then the shoe was sold in an auction for 1.5 million euros, and the money was donated to the children of Gaza. Several pictures posted online of Ronaldo wearing pro-Palestine clothes and carrying supportive messages.

He expressed the condemnation of Israel many times. Moreover, Ronaldo has apparently rejected to swap T-Shirts with Israeli footballers at the end of a match between Israel and Portugal in October 2013.

And according to many online news sources, Christiano Ronaldo said: “I do not swap T-Shirts with murderers.”

Whoopi Goldberg

Image Credit: Wikipedia by David Shankbone
Image Credit: Wikipedia by David Shankbone

Famous American comedian Whoopi Goldberg condemned the Israeli attacks on Gaza, by making a tweet: “Whoopi can you please RT that the men, women & children in Gaza, Palestine have been getting massacred for the past week.”

Stephen Hawking

Image Credit: Wikipedia/ Doug Wheller - Stephen Hawking
Image Credit: Wikipedia/ Doug Wheller – Stephen Hawking

Hawking is one of the most influential and revolutionary physicists in the world, he has shown his solidarity with Palestine and has condemned Israel on different chances.

Earlier time, the English physicist boycotted a conference held by the Israeli President in Jerusalem in 2013, and according to The Jerusalem Post, Hawking “retracted his statement that he pulled out of the fifth President’s Conference in Jerusalem because of ill health and clarified that it was because he supports an academic boycott of Israel.”

Hawking thus made official his support of the academic boycott of Israel. This was deemed an incontestable win for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), which is a pro-Palestine global campaign that opposes Israeli policies towards Palestine.

Lupe Fiasco (Wasalu Muhammad Jaco)

Image Credit: Wikimedia / Scott Sandars - Lupe Fiasco
Image Credit: Wikimedia / Scott Sandars – Lupe Fiasco

Wasalu Muhammad Jaco or Lupe Fiasco, the American hip-hop star has also proven his support to Palestine (carrying Palestinian flag in his concerts) and condemned Israeli actions. Some of his rap songs include obvious pro-Palestinian statements, sparking debate in the States.

Lupe Fiasco didn’t vote for Obamabecause of the Democratic candidate’s “pro-Israeli” stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He criticized Obama for his stance on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

His famous song, titled “Words I Never Said,” Fiasco makes his opinion of Obama and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict clear which can be read in his words.

Amare Stoudemire

Image Credit: Wikimedia/Keith Allison - Amare Stoudemire
Image Credit: Wikimedia/ Keith Allison – Amare Stoudemire

Amare Stoudemire of the New York Knicks put up a post on Instagram that read “pray for Palestine.”

Kim Kardashian

Image Credit: Wikipedia / © Glenn Francis, www.PacificProDigital.com
Image Credit: Wikipedia / © Glenn Francis, www.PacificProDigital.com – Kim Kardashian

In November 2012, Kim Kardashian tweeted: “Praying for everyone in Israel”. The reality star was forced to apologize then, for harming some of her followers after tweeting about the conflict.

Kim followed up with another tweet saying: “Praying for everyone in Palestine and across the world!” after angry Twitter users hit back at her apparent pro-Israel stance.

“I want to own up to and explain that earlier today I sent out two tweets about saying prayers for the people in Palestine and Israel and after hearing from my followers, I decided to take down the tweets because I realized that some people were offended and hurt by what I said, and for that I apologize,” she wrote.

Emma Thompson

Image Credit: Wikimedia / Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org), swiss-image.ch/Photo by Andy Mettler - Emma Thompson
Image Credit: Wikimedia / Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org), swiss-image.ch/Photo by Andy Mettler – Emma Thompson

The popular British actress Emma Thomson is known for supporting the Palestinians, as well as her opinions about global politics and international conflicts.

According to The Electronic Intifada, Emma has been a member of the British-based ENOUGH! Coalition, representing over three million people in charities, trade unions, faith and campaign groups, aimed at ending the “Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.”

Dwight Howard

Image Credit: Wikipedia / Jose Garcia / Flickr - Dwight Howard
Image Credit: Wikipedia / Jose Garcia / Flickr – Dwight Howard

American NBA star Dwight Howard also used twitter to express his support to Palestine, but then deleted the #Free Palestine tweet after a fan shared pictures of Gaza with him.

Gianluigi Buffon

Image Credit: Wikipedia / Илья Хохлов - Football.ua - Gianluigi Buffon
Image Credit: Wikipedia / Илья Хохлов – Football.ua – Gianluigi Buffon

Italy’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon showed his support for Palestine by tweeting “#Free Palestine #ForzaBuffon.”

Roger Waters (Pink Floyd)

Image Credit: Wikipedia/ Alterna2 http://www.alterna2.com - Roger Waters en el Palau Sant Jordi de Barcelona (The Wall Live)
Image Credit: Wikipedia/ Alterna2 http://www.alterna2.com – Roger Waters en el Palau Sant Jordi de Barcelona (The Wall Live)

Roger Waters, the famous singer and songwriter from the legendary rock band Pink Floyd, is also among the first celebrities to have shown strong support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). In an open letter last August, he asked his fellow musicians to follow in his footsteps.

In February 2014, Waters criticized the popular American actress Scarlett Johansson for supporting Israel, posted that on his Facebook page, saying: “Scarlett, you are undeniably cute, but if you think Soda Stream is building bridges towards peace you are also undeniably not paying attention”

*Soda Stream is an Israeli multinational company specialized in manufacturing carbonated beverages.

Meg Ryan & Dustin Hoffman

Meg Ryan & Dustin Hoffman
Meg Ryan & Dustin Hoffman

According to The Guardian, Hollywood actors Meg Ryan and Dustin Hoffman cancelled plans to attend a Jerusalem film festival following Israel’s raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla in 2012.

Jon Stewart

Image Credit: Wikipedia
Image Credit: Wikipedia – Jon Stewart

American political satirist, television host, and stand-up comedian, the famous Jon Stewart, had shown his obvious support of Palestine as well as his disapproval with Israeli politics.

Jon Stewart is principally known for his attitude towards American news reports that are blatantly biased in favor of Israel.

In a recent episode of The Daily Show, an American TV program he’s been hosting since 1999, Stewart satirically, yet using visual evidence, satirized American news reports that have described the war on Gaza as a conflict between two supposedly symmetrical powers.

Rihanna

Image Credit: Wikipedia / Flickr / Liam Mendes -  Rihanna
Image Credit: Wikipedia / Flickr / Liam Mendes – Rihanna

Unsurprisingly, Rihanna’s decision to post a tweet in support of Palestinians saying: #FreePalestine, stirring a commotion on social media. The controversy is still going on, even after the singer, who is from Barbados, deleted the tweet shortly after posting it.

Rihanna then tweeted, “Let’s pray for peace and a swift end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict! Is there any hope?” shifting to a neutral, pro-peace position.

 Pro- Israel Celebrities

Joan Rivers

Image Credit: Wikipedia / Flickr / David Shankbone - Joan Rivers
Image Credit: Wikipedia / Flickr / David Shankbone – Joan Rivers

The American actress and comedian delivered what celebrity news website TMZ.com called a “rant” in support of Israel.

Rivers criticize severely U.S. media coverage of Israel’s attack on Gaza for being too sympathetic to Palestinians. She said that both “BBC and CNN should be ashamed of themselves.”

Asked about civilian, who killed in Gaza by Israel, Rivers repeated Israeli army claims by saying, “don’t put your goddamn things in private homes! I’m sorry, don’t you dare put weapons stashes in private homes.”

Rivers also released a flood of criticism at Selena Gomez, the pop star who sent out an Instagram post praying for the people of Gaza. “Let’s see if she can spell Palestinian,” she said.

Howard Stern

Image Credit: Flickr / Bill Norton - Howard Stern
Image Credit: Flickr / Bill Norton – Howard Stern

Stern is an old backer of Israel, he did not hold back when a caller on his radio show said that Israel was to blame for the current crisis. His profanity-filled rant on SiriusXM went viral.

“I’m so tired of the bullshit. If you’re anti-Israel than you’re anti-America. It’s the only democracy over there, it’s the only friend we have who’s willing to fight and stand up for what’s right,” Stern claimed.

He also attacked Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters with angry words, saying that Waters should “shut his mouth.”

Bill Maher

Image Credit: Wikipedia / Flickr / Angela George - Bill Maher
Image Credit: Wikipedia / Flickr / Angela George – Bill Maher

Maher released a river of disagreement over his Twitter saying: “Dealing w/ Hamas is like dealing w/ a crazy woman who’s trying to kill u — u can only hold her wrists so long before you have to slap her.”

Jon Voight

JonVoightHWOFJune2013
Image Credit: Wikipedia

“My name is Jon Voight and I am more than angry,” the Midnight Cowboy star and Academy Award-winning actor wrote in an open letter the Hollywood Reporter after the letter of Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem and other 100 celebrities. “I am heartsick that people like Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem could incite anti-Semitism all over the world and are oblivious to the damage they have caused.”

Speaking at a pro-Israel rally in Las Vegas, he said that President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry “do not really have Israel’s back covered as they say they do. Instead of telling Hamas to stop sending rockets into Israel aimed at its civilian population, they say Israel has to stop killing civilians. What a travesty of justice.”

Mark Pellegrino

Image Credit:  Wikipedia
Image Credit: Wikipedia

The star of Lost, Being Human and Supernatural, Mark Pellegrino, was also among the actors who stand with Israel. He tweeted many times, showing his complete solidarity with IDF.

Adam Baldwin

Image Credit: Wikimedia / Gage Skidmore - Adam Baldwin
Image Credit: Wikimedia / Gage Skidmore – Adam Baldwin

The actor of Firefly, Chuck and The Last Ship, Adam Baldwin is also supporter for Israel. He condemned Hamas acts in Gaza many times.

Stacey Dash

Image Credit: YouTube / TMZ - Stacey Dash
Image Credit: YouTube / TMZ – Stacey Dash

Actress and Fox News contributor Stacey Dash also showed her support to Israel

 

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