Actor Mark Ruffalo apologizes for posts suggesting ‘Israel’ committed ‘genocide’
American actor Mark Ruffalo has issued an apology for posts he made during the recent Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip that suggested ‘Israel’ was committing “genocide”.
“I have reflected and wanted to apologize for posts during the recent Israel/Hamas fighting that suggested Israel is committing “genocide”,” he tweeted on Monday night.
“It’s not accurate,” he continued, “it’s inflammatory, disrespectful & is being used to justify antisemitism here and abroad.”
“Now is the time to avoid hyperbole,” he said.
I have reflected & wanted to apologize for posts during the recent Israel/Hamas fighting that suggested Israel is committing “genocide”. It’s not accurate, it’s inflammatory, disrespectful & is being used to justify antisemitism here & abroad. Now is the time to avoid hyperbole.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) May 25, 2021
Mark’s apology comes weeks after several celebrities raised their voice against the 11-days of Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
John Legend, Rihanna, Dua Lipa, Bella Hadid, Gigi Hadid, Susan Sarandon, Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Zayn Malik, and Roger Waters were among the celebrities who have voiced support for Palestine.
Mark was also among those who spoke out.
He retweeted several posts related to what was happening in Gaza. He first broke his silence in a tweet on May 15.
His tweet read: “Over 30 children killed. Mothers dead. Hundreds injured. We are on the brink of a full-scale war. Sanctions on South Africa helped free its Black people – it’s time for sanctions on Israel to free Palestinians. Join the call.” Mark also used the hashtag “Gaza Under Attack.”
Over 30 children killed. Mothers dead. Hundreds injured. We are on the brink of a full-scale war. Sanctions on South Africa helped free its Black people – it’s time for sanctions on Israel to free Palestinians. Join the call. #GazaUnderAttack https://t.co/N72e0xLvX5
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) May 15, 2021
On May 17, Mark also shared a thread and noted, “Must read thread to get a nuanced read on Jewish/ Israeli identity and how it relates to criticism of actions taken by Isreal, and the extreme charge of anti-semitism for it.”
Must read thread to get a nuanced read on Jewish/ Israeli identity and how it relates to criticism of actions taken by Isreal, and the extreme charge of anti-semitism for it. https://t.co/rJla3QCt7Q
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) May 16, 2021
Mark also tweeted out to President Joe Biden on May 18 and asked him to take necessary actions, as his tweet read, “Please Joe Biden please join the world community and bipartisan leaders here in calling for a #CeasefireNOW in the ongoing, deadly and meaningless conflict happening in Israel and Palestine. The world needs your leadership.”
Please @JoeBiden please join the world community and bipartisan leaders here in calling for a #CeasefireNOW in the ongoing, deadly and meaningless conflict happening in Israel and Palestine. The world needs your leadership.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) May 17, 2021
In a 2020 interview with NBC, the American actor referred to what the Palestinians suffer under the Israeli occupation as a “kind of apartheid” while speaking to host Mehdi Hasan.
He said at the time, “My connection to Palestine came through Palestinians and hearing their stories and then watching this asymmetrical warfare being enacted upon them. That kind of inequality, that kind of oppression, that kind of apartheid.”
“There’s no reason why an ally of American should not be held to same the standard as we would hold any other nation in the world,” he said. “I was called an antisemite about it, for doing that – which was really tough to hear,” he added.
It is unclear at the moment what led Mark to make this statement, but he wasn’t the only one who did so.
As several reports said many celebrities deleted their pro-Palestine posts following pressure and backlash by the Israel lobby.
Most recently, the Palestinian-heritage supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid and British singer Dua Lipa who were referred to them in an ad as “mega-influencers” who have “vilified the Jewish state” and “accused Israel of ethnic cleansing.”
The advertisement mirrors what the World Values Network said on its website, accusing Lipa and the Hadids of forming an “unholy trinity of anti-Semitic bile to demonize the Jewish people, whom they insist have no right to defend themselves.”
Also, on Sunday, American model Paris Hilton tweeted a Guardian article about Israel vowing not to stop Gaza attacks until there was “complete quiet” with the message: “This is so heartbreaking. This needs to stop! #SavePalestine #GazaUnderAttack #stopthegenocide.”
She followed it up by sharing a Middle East Eye video of a 10-year-old Palestinian girl breaking down after air strikes destroyed her neighbour’s house, killing eight children.
“This hurts my heart. No one should have to live in fear. My heart goes out to the little girl and the other children around her,” Hilton tweeted to her 17 million followers.
Hours later, both tweets disappeared and were replaced by the more general statement: “Sending love and light around the world. Praying for peace to make the world a better place for all.”
Several social media users were disappointed by Mark’s later scaling back, saying there is no need to apologize for telling the truth, and the world needs to apologize for those who lost their beloved ones, and to those whose homes were destroyed and killed.
*Actually* when you bomb a densely populated, shelterless open-air prison, hospital roads, doctors, & vital infrastructure, that *is* genocide.
When you speak of “flattening the Strip,” & vow to not stop bombing Gaza until there’s “complete quiet,” that *is* intent to genocide. https://t.co/oAj42ChgRf
— Mohammed (@m7mdkurd) May 25, 2021
you should tell the families of the 200+ murdered palestinians in gaza that were declared enemy combatants in the latest idf propaganda that their occupiers aren’t actually committing ethnic cleansing when they “mowed the lawn” last week
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) May 25, 2021
you know what’s inflammatory? dropping bombs on civilians (with no way out) killing 200+ including 66 children buried in rubble with thousands injured in 11 days. but yeah, let’s apologize for calling a spade a spade.
— فلسطين (@BonsaiSky) May 25, 2021
Hey, Mark. I love and respect your activism, but take it from a Jew, the term genocide is fitting since it is indeed the aim of Zionism to remove every Arab from the land, which has been done by ethnic cleansing and mass murders.
— Jason Kishineff is a Rabid Anti-Imperialist. (@kishineff) May 25, 2021
Mark Ruffalo, as well as other artists and journalists from the US mainstream media, have already felt the weight of the Lobby for criticism or even jokes about #Israel. It requires a lot of COURAGE to defend Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/0x4ziYzBwN
— Carlos Latuff (@LatuffCartoons) May 25, 2021
