Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer recently joined the increasingly long list of celebrities who have received lacerating criticism for social media posts about the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza — Silverman for an Instagram repost (since deleted) that justified Israel’s decision to cut Gaza’s water and power, Schumer for using Instagram to (among other things) call out Western news organizations for promoting the “lie” that Israel was responsible for the bombing of Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. (The Biden administration has said an “Islamic Jihadist rocket misfire” is most likely to blame.)
They are not the first famous people, and unlikely to be the last, to find themselves on the receiving end of reactions that include gratitude, pointed rebuttal, bigoted threats and undisguised hate after sharing their opinions about the horrific violence of Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel and Israel’s response to it.
The murder of more than 1,400 Israelis, many of them children, by members of Hamas on Oct. 7 was appalling, as are the deaths of more than 3,000 Gaza residents, many of them children, during Israel’s counter-attacks. Given the real and historic ties many Americans have with the region, these terrible events have provoked a wide spectrum of emotional reactions, opinions and analyses about the context and the larger problems they represent.
I will not be sharing mine, which, grounded in neither expertise nor experience, would not be helpful in any way.
And frankly, unless you are an expert on the region’s history and/or politics, an on-the-ground journalist or, God/Allah be with you, an eyewitness to these events, there is something to be said, as Elizabeth Spiers recently wrote in the New York Times, for keeping your thoughts, reactions and opinions to yourself.
Or at least off social media.
It is difficult to watch thousands of innocent people die without wanting to say something, and everyone is, of course, entitled to share their opinions, express outrage, offer historical context or point out what they consider to be bigotry. Even celebrities.
But posting on Instagram or X — to say nothing of reposting someone else — is almost always a reductive way to react, and in this case, even the most well-intended show of support for one group of people or another is guaranteed to be met with a roaring conflagration of opposite opinion, outrage, historical context and accusations of bigotry.
Especially if you’re a celebrity. Many stars, including Josh Gad, Madonna, Gal Gadot and Kylie Jenner, who have expressed support for those killed or taken hostage in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, were instantly criticized and, in some cases, threatened for what was perceived as an anti-Palestinian stance. Supermodel Gigi Hadid received a scathing response directly from the State of Israel’s Instagram page after she posted to her feed, “Condemning the Israeli government is not antisemitic and supporting Palestinians is not supporting Hamas.”
Protesters gather outside of the Israeli Embassy in Houston on Wednesday in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
(Raquel Natalicchio / Houston Chronicle via AP)
Perhaps the problem is more the medium than the message. Does anyone really think platforms designed for provocation and the distribution of cute cat videos are the best choice for any kind of meaningful conversation about a conflict that has endured for centuries and confounded some of the best minds of multiple generations?
I realize that celebrities are very busy and that over the years our culture has come to expect, indeed demand, that they instantly make their feelings known about a wide variety of current events. In some instances — #OscarsSoWhite, #MeToo, Black Lives Matter — high-profile people have deep knowledge, insight and experience, and their words are key to moving the discourse to a national level.
When dealing with the emotional and historical complexities of this ethno-religious crisis, however, many do not.
In rushing to show their support for Israel after the Oct. 7 attack, Jamie Lee Curtis and Justin Bieber both posted photos of what they thought were endangered Israeli children but were in fact children living in Gaza. Many others jumped on the still-unverified claim that Hamas beheaded babies (though it’s tough to imagine why the actually verified number of dead children wasn’t enough). And as blame for the recent hospital bombing has seesawed, it wasn’t just Schumer who appeared certain she had inside information.
It is possible that the posts, and the wrath they have incurred, could result in actual dialogue, an exchange of insight and information, and the potential for — think of it! — people listening to each other.
But glancing at the vitriolic replies and reposts, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Instead, most people seem to be refocusing their previously held rage from whichever group they blame for the violence to someone who tells jokes or sings songs for a living.
The celebrities, because they’re celebrities, become the news, feeding the fury while offering at best no new information and at worst disinformation. Many, in turn, become the targets of the same hate that has fueled the war they are posting about. The only people who actually benefit are Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
And there are so many other ways people can speak out or support the grieving and traumatized civilians in Israel and Gaza. In the immediate wake of the Oct. 7 attack, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protests were held in cities and on campuses all over the world, often facing off at the same time.
Whereas Silverman trended on X, “The Princess Bride” and “Toy Story” star Wallace Shawn joined thousands of protesters, many of them Jewish, who gathered in Washington, D.C., to call for a cease-fire. At separate protests at the White House and the Capitol, they held signs that said, “My grief is not your weapon” and “Not in our name” and called for an end to the violent response in Gaza.
Others, led by progressive Jewish activists, demonstrated in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ L.A. home, calling on Harris to join them in demanding a cease-fire.
In other words, it is possible for celebrities, and everyone else, to call for action that could lead to the end of violence and some attempt at sustainable peace. It is even possible to deplore both the atrocity of the Oct. 7 attack and the brutal response of the Israeli government. And to do so productively.
Just maybe not on Instagram.