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Hashtag headache: Madonna and Javier Bardem among celebs weighing in on Israel-Gaza conflict
Celebrities taking to social media to voice stance on month-long conflict that's killed more than 1,000 people.
#OyWhatAMess.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas is lighting up the skies over Gaza — but now a new weapon of mass destruction has joined the air war.
The hot air war, that is.
Celebrities are weighing in on the month-old conflict to show their support for the side they believe in — but even in the rare case when celebs understand the complex issue, they tend to trivialize it by pontificating on social media.
Memo to Hollywood: You’re not helping — and you’re hurting yourself with fans.
“(It’s) much more likely a fan is going to change his mind about the celebrity than change his mind on the subject,” says Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television & Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “It’s a lot more likely they’ll say, ‘Oh, I used to like that person, now I don’t anymore.’”
And the Middle East is the ultimate dividing line. Worse, the issue is far more complicated than 140 characters or a status update will allow.
Madonna waded into the swamp when she posted a photo of flowers to her 18 million Facebook fans on July 23, likening the petals to Palestinian kids.
The post got 40,000 “likes” — though few pointed out that Hamas had actually rejected a ceasefire proposal that same day. In the end, the Material Girl ended up appearing uninformed — and the war raged on.
Singer Selena Gomez was no less shallow, posting a picture of the words “It’s all about humanity,” then adding in a caption, "Please pray for those families and babies. Please always remember what's important in life. It's not any of this. We are here to help, inspire and love. Be that change."
She ended with the hashtag, "wearethenextgeneration."
In the current conflict, hashtag diplomacy has centered on #freepalestine and #prayforgaza — but hashtags can be easily misunderstood amid a deep-seated conflict that killed more than 1,000 people in July — the latest outbreak in a dispute with thousands of years of history, decades of armed conflict, and years of failed peace efforts.
Malik left up his July 27 post, but several celebrities — including Rihanna and NBA player Dwight Howard — have deleted their earlier #FreePalestine tweets as fans responded poorly.
“In the U.S., showing sympathy for the Palestinians generates a lot of backlash, so many celebrities are very careful about what they say,” said William Youmans, a media professor at George Washington University. “Many feel pressured to be silent.”
Oscar winner Javier Bardem penned a July 25 op-ed for El Diaro, a Spanish-language newspaper, in which he condemned Israel’s actions and accused the nation of committing genocide.
“It's a war of occupation and extermination waged against a people with no means, confined in a minimum territory, with no water, and where hospitals, ambulances, and children are targets and presumed to be terrorists,” he wrote.
But just because there’s a hashtag #GenocideInGaza doesn’t make this war a Jew-on-Arab Holocaust. After all, the Jewish state isn’t killing Israeli Arabs — just battling a military foe that has launched attacks from Gaza. The United Nations — no great supporter of Israel — has not used the word “genocide” yet.
Hollywood’s tradition of venting on political issues is as old as Tinseltown itself. From “Birth of a Nation” to Marlon Brando’s Oscar snub in solidarity with mistreated Native Americans to Clint Eastwood’s speech to an empty stool at the 2012 Republican National Convention, film industry leaders have never been reticent.
But unlike the current “debate,” at least prior generations of Hollywood stars put themselves on the line, risking their careers and the love of fans. That’s why a thoughtful harangue is always better than a hashtag.
“Expressing political views can alienate some fans,” Thompson says. “But if a celebrity advocates it’s something they believe in, that’s admirable.”
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So the fact that some celebrities are full-on morons isn't really news.
And I guess the fact that it's getting a lot of backlash isn't surprising either.
At the end of the day, I guess it's just the nature of the game.
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"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." avie by Jessie
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