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Exactly two years ago, Palestinian resistance group Hamas launched a surprise offensive against Israel, killing over 1,000 people and taking hostages in a series of attacks. Israel responded by pummelling the Gaza Strip with ceaseless airstrikes targeting everything from homes to schools to hospitals.
Israel’s brutal ‘response’ continues two years on, having killed over 67,000 Palestinians, while some slept in their homes, some awaited medical attention in hospital wards, others sheltered in tents and many tried desperately to find food to feed their starving families. A recent United Nations (UN) report called Israeli actions a ‘genocide’ and another UN affiliated agency said Israel’s blocking of aid into the strip caused a famine.
Two years ago, celebrities the world over didn’t dare speak out against Israel, lest they be branded ‘anti-semitic’. Everyone walked on eggshells and spoke in whispers about “P-A-L-E-S-T-I-N-E” for fear of being ostracised. That is no longer true and many people have come out all guns blazing to reject this propaganda and speak out against the genocide.
On the second anniversary of the start of the war on Gaza, we are sharing some powerful statements by celebrities who had the courage and moral fortitude to speak up for Palestine. The list is not exhaustive and we did not include any Pakistani celebrities because they do not face the same challenges if they do speak out.
“I am not scared of Israel, I am scared of a world that has seemingly lost all sense of humanity and what we’re doing here is trying to show there is still some humanity left, that there are are people still willing to step up when all other means fail.”
Starting off with perhaps one of the youngest and strongest voices for the Palestinian cause, climate activist Greta Thunberg said this in September from the deck of a boat carrying relief supplies to Gaza as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla. Sumud was her second attempt at trying to get aid into a warzone, having previously been aboard the Madleen, a yacht that was carrying essential supplies to the strip and was intercepted by the Israeli Navy. The flotilla suffered a similar fate and Thunberg was released from her second stint in Israeli custody on Monday.
“There are not two groups of kids in this world. Kids that deserve waffles and eggs and kids that deserve to starve. Kids that deserve to learn their ABCs and kids that deserve to die. Kids that deserve to be stood up for and kids that deserve silence. There are not ‘our kids’ and ‘their kids’. We know. God knows. There are not two groups of kids in this world.”
Rachel Accurso, known by her popular internet persona Ms Rachel, has been a vocal and ardent supporter of children in several warzones, helping evacuate Gazan children and supporting organisations that are for these kids on the ground. She made this statement as an Instagram post in September. Based in the US, she has faced immense pressure from pro-Israel groups, with calls made for the attorney general to investigate her for pushing “anti-Israel propaganda”.
“What we’re witnessing in Gaza is not just a tragedy, it is a crime against humanity. Forced starvation, a man-made famine — children and families wasting away while the world looks on in silence. This is not a natural disaster. This is the result of deliberate choices made by those in power.”
Marvel star Mark Ruffalo did not mince words calling for an end to mass starvation in Gaza when he appealed for world leaders to stop the madness in August. His post followed the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification officially declaring a famine in Gaza. Ruffalo told leaders their silence was “complicity” and told people to “raise your voices. Demand an end to this famine. Demand and end to the genocide and destruction. Demand accountability. Demand life.”
“It’s a universal message of just let’s stop killing kids. Let’s not be part of more war. No one’s ever looked back at war and thought a bombing campaign was a good idea.”
Comedian Ramy Youssef has been more than just vocal on Palestine, fundraising for Gaza in December 2023 when it was still considered somewhat of a taboo to talk about Israel’s brutality. This statement of his comes from the red carpet of the Academy Awards in March 2024, where he was seen sporting an Artists for Ceasefire pin. He said the number of artists speaking out for Gaza will increase as they “speak to people’s hearts”.
“We stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people.”
Another speech from the 2024 Academy Awards, director Jonathan Glazer called out Israel for using the historical persecution of Jewish people as a cover for their own brutal measures against the people of Palestine. Glazer was accepting the Best International Feature award for his film Zone of Interest — the story of a Nazi camp commandant during the Holocaust.
“I cannot work with someone who justifies or supports the genocide. That’s as simple as that. We shouldn’t be able to do that, in this industry or any other industry.”
Actor Javier Bardem showed up to this year’s Emmys in September wrapped in a keffiyeh and voicing his support for the Filmworkers for Palestine initiative, a pledge made by 4,000 people in the entertainment industry to not work with Israel or any organisations involved in “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid”.
“They lie and they lie and they lie and they lie and they lie and they lie and they lie and they lie.”
That’s what Irish actor Liam Cunningham had to say to to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs after they claimed the Global Sumud Flotilla was “organised by Hamas” prior to the flotilla’s interception by the country’s navy. Cunningham has been a regular pro-Palestine protests in Ireland, where the cause has great public support.
“Four days after Russia started the war in Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA suspended Russia. We are now 716 days into what Amnesty International have called a genocide and yet Israel continues to be allowed to participate. Why? Why the double standard?”
Former football star Eric Cantona joined a star studded lineup of speakers and performers at the Together for Palestine (T4P) concert in September when he called out the hypocrisy of international sporting bodies in refusing to suspend Israel in light of their actions in Gaza, when Russia had been suspended almost immediately following their invasion of Ukraine. The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) issued a statement from its president on October 2 saying the organisation “can’t solve geopolitical problems” and can only promote unity to bring people together.
“We are talking about right or wrong, about children being bombed in their beds. I wouldn’t accept that anywhere in the world… Any country in the world that was facing this, I would talk about it. It’s not difficult. For me, the killing of innocent people is never right.”
Bridgerton actor Nicola Coughlan has been fundraising for Gaza for sometime now, having raised a few million across her appeals and even appearing at T4P, where she called out bigger artists “with hundreds of millions of followers” who choose to stay silent in the face of such human suffering.
“We just want to stop people being murdered. There’s people starving to death, people being bombed every day. That’s the stuff we need to talk about.”
Irish rap group Kneecap have faced censorship, concert cancellation and even a court case for their loud stance against Israeli atrocities in Gaza. Political messaging in their livestream from Coachella was censored and they had to cancel a US tour after they were told to appear in court for one of their members waving a Hezbollah flag on stage; charges that were later dropped. The statement comes from member JJ Ó Dochartaigh, who spoke to The Guardian in June.