This weekend, the world watched in horror as Hamas invaded Israel. Thousands of Israelis, Palestinians, and nine Americans were killed in the fighting. The Israeli army and the rest of the world were taken entirely by surprise as hundreds of Israelis were taken hostage, and fierce fighting occurred in the streets of Israel.
Many celebrities took to social media to express their sadness and support Israel. Gal Gadot, born in Israel and served two years in the Israeli Defense Force, was one of the first to express her sadness over this war. Frozen (2013) and Beauty and the Beast (2017) star Josh Gad took to Threads to show his support and sympathy for the people of Israel.
And that’s when the backlash started. Gad’s initial post was on Saturday, and by Sunday, he took to threads again to say that people “unfollowed” him and that he had been threatened online. Gad, who is Jewish, said he had been critical of the Israeli government and its occupation of Gaza, but he was still threatened, shamed, and personally attacked.
To shame people like me for expressing grief and heartache, the same grief I share anytime an innocent Palestinian is displaced or killed? Is this where we are? I guess it is. One of the many vile messages I will share with you that I received yesterday is: “my only regret is that they didn’t kill more Israelis.” Not soldiers… civilians. People. This isn’t a war. It’s a massacre. It’s a bloodbath. And instead of communal despair, so many are treating this as if it’s politics or a a rugby match. There are no winners here. We are all losers. Most importantly, every Israeli and Palestinian is now on the losing end. I am truly at a loss. I guess I’m the naive one.
Gad was not the only Disney celebrity who faced backlash for a pro-Israel post. Mark Hamill took to X (formerly Twitter) to post a relatively benign pro-Israel post. The backlash against Hamill was immediate, as his tweet received more than 16,000 replies, most of them against Hamill’s post. Hamill has also been incredibly vocal in his support for Ukraine. He has raised millions of dollars for the Ukrainian Army and Air Defense, and Hamill has even lent his voice to the Ukrainian Early Warning System.
America stands with Israel ✊#ALWAYS pic.twitter.com/kM3e9S125s
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) October 8, 2023
Josh Gad has several family members who live in Israel, including his father. His mother was born in Germany to Holocaust survivors. Last month, Gad left X (formerly Twitter), claiming he could no longer support a social media platform “actively promoting antisemitism.”
The Israel-Hamas conflict continues, and innocent people will continue to die. We can only hope that this violence will end soon.
We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.
