“Free Palestine!” or “I stand with Israel”: on Instagram, Hollywood celebrities have been taking a stand since the start of the war, at the risk of their brand image, scrutinized by millions of angry users. Israeli actress Gal Gadot – Marvel’s Wonder Woman – posted her unwavering support for her country on Instagram on October 7, the day Hamas commandos massacred 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel, and took some 240 others as hostages, taking them to the Gaza Strip.
“I stand with Israel, you should too,” she told her 109 million followers. The actress has since published more than twenty photos and videos on this subject on her Instagram account and regularly shares content demanding the return of Israeli civilians detained by Hamas, attracting the approval of some and the wrath of others. others.
“I am extremely disappointed with your position in favor of the genocide of the Palestinian people,” reacted one user, among hundreds of similar criticisms.
In retaliation for the Hamas attack, Israel shelled the Palestinian territory and launched a ground offensive on October 27, which resumed Friday after a week of truce. According to the Hamas government, nearly 16,000 people, 70% of them women and children, died in Israeli strikes.
The Instagram account of American model of Palestinian origin Gigi Hadid (79 million subscribers) has taken on a less “fashion” tone in recent weeks, mentioning in particular “the systemic mistreatment of the Palestinian people by the government of Israel”.
“Stop spreading lies! You and your sisters are anti-Semitic! Find out,” replied a pro-Israeli Internet user, among many reactions.
The latter are strong on Instagram, where the visibility of publications is reinforced by the “reputation” of their issuer and by their “affective intensity”, observes Camille Alloing, professor of communication at the University of Quebec in Montreal. Stars, who are very well known and who arouse strong feelings of support or repulsion, are formidable catalysts for emotions. Especially if they speak on divisive subjects.
Long before the advent of social networks, the boxer Mohamed Ali, the actress Jane Fonda and the singer Bob Dylan were as adored as they were reviled for their opposition to the Vietnam War. More recently, Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie and Sean Penn showed their support for Ukraine by going there, supported by the overwhelming majority of their Western fans, where kyiv is almost unanimous. But the Israeli-Palestinian conflict polarizes more than any other. Which sometimes exposes stars to painful flashbacks.
Kim Kardashian’s half-sister, Kylie Jenner, shared with her 398 million Instagram followers a message from a pro-Israeli group shortly after October 7: “Now and forever, we stand with the people Israeli!” She finally withdrew it an hour of invectives later, according to American media.
Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon lost the support of the talent agency that represented her in November, according to the specialized press, for controversial remarks made during a pro-Palestinian demonstration, for which she is then apologized on Instagram.
Melissa Barrera, headliner of the fifth and sixth parts of the film Scream, will not participate in the seventh opus, by decision of the production house, which cites its “zero tolerance on anti-Semitism and incitement to hatred”. The actress denounced “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza on the social network.
Celebrities who take a stand in this divisive conflict have “a lot to risk and little to gain,” believes Nicolas Vanderbiest, founder of the communications firm Saper Vedere in Brussels.
Tom Cruise would have come to the aid of his agent, allowing her to keep her job, after she denounced a “genocide in progress” on Instagram, according to the specialized press. Because producers or sponsors have little taste for the interference of geopolitics in their affairs, says Nicolas Vanderbiest. And two “extremely structured” communities are on the lookout, with “a pack effect” to fear, he says.
Stars, to gain peace of mind, can therefore choose to remain silent. But, in the Israeli-Palestinian context where “there is an injunction to express oneself”, this does not exempt them from being criticized, notes Jamil Jean-Marc Dakhlia, professor at the Parisian University Sorbonne-Nouvelle. “Even silences are considered confessions,” adds this information and communication specialist. We are in a very dichotomous logic where we have to take a position and in a way that is not necessarily nuanced,” she says.
American actress and singer Selena Gomez, with 430 million subscribers on Instagram, was criticized for her silence on the subject. Like hundreds of people, including singer Jennifer Lopez and actor Joaquin Phoenix, she chose the middle path: signing the “artists for a ceasefire now” petition at the end of October.
Hundreds of celebrities, including Gal Gadot, had previously demanded in an open letter “the release of all Hamas hostages”. Few have signed both texts.
