Ramallah, October 29 (RHC)-- Ever since the brutal Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip started last week, celebrities all around the world took it as a mission of theirs to speak out on what's going on in Palestine, raising awareness and asking their followers to stand on the right side of history.
Jewish-American actor Wallace Shawn, along with other Jewish activists in Washington, DC, protested the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, saying: "It’s one of the most deliberate cruelties inflicted on a group of people."
American actress Susan Sarandon, who has always spoken in favor of the Palestinian people on several occasions, used her official page on X to repost a lot of posts condemning Israel's aggression against Gaza.
The popular actress also asked her followers to call their representatives in the White House to demand a ceasefire and an end to apartehid.
Irish actor Liam Cunningham posted a video on Instagram on what seems to be a pro-Palestine protest in Dublin. He captioned the video with "#Gaza."
American actor John Cusack also posted in solidarity with Palestinians. "When I visited Palestine - my first thought going through the concrete , barbed wire , guns and steel - the checkpoints stories-high into the sky - was its was harder to get into - and felt far more imposing and dangerous than when I crossed through Checkpoint Charlie and got into East Berlin many years ago," he said on X.
"It’s was actually a bit anti climactic - it was weird - my car was searched - the soldiers stole my cassette tapes - but I was in pretty quickly - A very different experience getting into the occupied territories. The power balance so immensely one sided - the walls so high, so many guns trained down - it’s hard to describe it any other way then an open air prison… and all the menace that implies . Anyone who’s been would not deny it - To think of the place I visited - and the Palestinians I met - having 6000 bombs dropped on them in 6 days - is inconceivable . There’s literally no where to go -"
Maria Guardiola, the daughter of Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, also posted in support of Palestinians.
In the Arab world, Lebanese pop singer Elissa was the first to show solidarity with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza as she liked several posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) showing solidarity with Palestine before she posted a tweet including Palestine's flag with a quote that says "if you cannot lift the injustice, at least tell everyone about it."
Elissa, who is considered the best-selling Arab female artist in the Middle East, and has millions of followers on her social media pages, has always publicly voiced her support for Palestine, most notably in 2021, when Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood went viral following Israeli threats of forcibly displacing its residents.
Other Arab singers who tweeted in support of Palestine include Carole Samaha, Laila Ghofran, Nawal al-Zoghbi, Latifa, Ragheb Alame, Ruby, Nancy Ajram, Hani Shaker, Tamer Hosny, Walid Toufic, and Moeen Charif, who in 2022 released a song dedicated to the late American-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, following her killing by Israeli forces while she was covering a military raid in the West Bank.
The Middle East's top actors, including Karim Abedal Aziz, Sulaff Fawakherji, Monther Rayahneh, Mohamed Henedi, Kinda Alloush, Horeya Farghaly, Sherihan, Ahmed Helmy, Takla Chamoun and Fifi Abdo, were among the celebrities who used their social media platforms to voice support for Palestinians.
American singer-songwriter Kehlani was the one of the main international celebrities who took it to her Instagram page to show full support and solidarity with Palestine amidst the ongoing Israeli aggression. In a story posted on Instagram, the 28-year-old singer said: "Free Palestine till it's backwards,"
She also posted a video in which she called out other celebrities for remaining silent on what's going in Gaza.
"To my peers and people that are in the spaces I'm in, what the f**k is wrong with y'all?," she said. "You're being silent for the sake of money and business like that amounts to what the f**k is going on. There's an insane amount of unchecked privilege on literal f**king display, and it is gut-wrenching. It is disgusting."
