Key Points
- Actors, artists, authors and athletes have faced negative consequences for speaking out about the Hamas-Israel war.
- They include Susan Sarandon, Melissa Barrera, Anwar El Ghazi, Youcef Atal, Nathan Thrall and Ai Weiwei.
Several high-profile people in the arts and sport worlds have lost work, been suspended or ‘cancelled’ online for posting about the Hamas-Israel war.
After speaking at pro-Palestinian rallies, US actor Susan Sarandon has been dropped by her talent agency UTA, the agency confirmed to Deadline.
Sarandon attended several rallies and was recorded saying that “there are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country.”
“I stand here in my cruelly given white privilege to say that you don’t have to be Palestinian to stand with the Palestinian people.”
She also said you do not have to be Palestinian “to understand that the slaughter of almost 5,000 children is unacceptable and a war crime.”
Israel says 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians and about 240 hostages of different nationalities taken hostage by Islamist gunmen on 7 October.
In retaliation, Israel has subjected Hamas-ruled Gaza to a siege and relentless bombardment. More than 14,000 Gazans have been killed, around 40 per cent of them children, according to medical officials in the territory.
Seven UN special rapporteurs said in a statement earlier this month Palestinians are
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Friday said he had received a joint request from five countries to investigate the situation in the Palestinian territories.
The ICC already has an ongoing investigation into “the situation in the State of Palestine” for alleged war crimes committed since June 13, 2014.
No charges have been laid.
Mexican actor Melissa Barrera has been let go from the Scream film franchise for pro-Palestinian posts, studio Spyglass confirmed.
“Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech,” a statement from the company said.
Barrera’s casting in the next Scream movie hadn’t been officially confirmed, but it was widely assumed to be official as she’d starred in Scream 6.
Some American actors and athletes have come under fire for posting pro-Israel content on social media including basketballer Lebron James who condemned Hamas’ 7 October attacks, and actor Amy Schumer who has switched off comments on a series of Instagram posts condemning Hamas and supporting Israel.
The head of a New York cancer centre has sued his employer over his dismissal, which was reportedly due to posts criticising pro-Palestinian protesters.
Benjamin Neel alleges he was “unceremoniously dumped” in violation of religious discrimination laws, Politico reported.
Jewish-American author Nathan Thrall was reportedly scheduled to speak at venues in the US and UK about his book A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: A Palestine Story.
Thrall told the Guardian several events for the book were called off and some radio advertising was pulled.
“They refused to provide me with those listener complaints. I am very sceptical. I’m quite sure that a book advocating for Israel would not have had its advertisements pulled,” he said.
“There’s an atmosphere that is wholly intolerant of any expression of sympathy for Palestinians living under occupation, any discussion of the root causes of the conflict,” said Thrall.
“My book is not a polemic. It’s been praised for showing characters, both Jewish and Palestinian, in an empathetic way. For events around that sort of a book to be cancelled, and ads for that sort of a book to be withdrawn, is outrageous.”
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s exhibition of new works in London has been delayed following a tweet he posted. Source: AAP / Franck Robichon
In London, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei had a new exhibition of his art put on hold following a since-deleted post he made.
Ai said he had “attempted to be objective and neutral without moral judgment, accusations, or evaluation of human actions” in his tweet, which reportedly stated that the Jewish community has a large influence on US media.
In European football, German club Mainz 05 suspended Dutch forward Anwar El Ghazi on 16 October for a social media post about the conflict that the Bundesliga club felt was “unacceptable”.
El Ghazi deleted the post but appeared to double down after his dismissal.
“Stand for what is right, even if it means standing alone. The loss of my livelihood is nothing when compared to the hell being unleashed on innocent and vulnerable in Gaza,” El Ghazi posted after the club suspended him.
A day later French club Nice’s Youcef Atal was suspended for allegedly reposting an antisemitic message on social media.
French prosecutors launched a preliminary investigation into Atal on suspicion of “glorifying terrorism”, following complaints by politicians.
