The vocal BDS fans on the left were getting a lot of celebrity support in their bashing of Isreal during the recent attacks. While some were busy calling for official resolutions of condemnation against the Jewish state or demanding sanctions be put in place, others were choosing more colorful language. Among those was actor Mark Ruffalo. (As a side note, for the longest time I actually thought this guy’s name was “Buffalo,” but I have since been corrected.) Rather than simply calling on the Israelis to stop defending themselves, Ruffalo chose to publicly call Israel’s strikes against Hamas terrorists “an act of genocide.” That’s a dangerous comparison to make in nearly any circumstances, but it’s particularly touchy when you use the term in relation to Israel. There was some immediate blowback, and now the actor has come back and apologized for using that terminology. Well… he sort of apologized, anyway. (Jerusalem Post)
American actor Mark Ruffalo, a frequent critic of Israel, tweeted on Tuesday morning that he “wanted to apologize for posts during the recent Israel/Hamas fighting that suggested Israel is committing ‘genocide.'”
“It’s not accurate,” he added, “it’s inflammatory, disrespectful & is being used to justify antisemitism here & abroad.”“Now is the time to avoid hyperbole,” he concluded.
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
Just to get the flavor of the sort of people we’re talking about here, take a moment and scroll through some of the replies to Ruffalo’s tweet. There are actually fans of his responding by criticizing Ruffalo for apologizing. You really can’t make this stuff up.
This isn’t the first time that Ruffalo has been found flying the anti-Israel flag. Last year, long before the recent round of rocket fire began, he accused that country of engaging in “a type of apartheid.”
This is something I’ll never truly understand. What was the original trigger that drove most of Hollywood to fall in love with the Palestinians and hate the people of Israel? Sure, antisemitism is the easy answer, but Hollywood has long been home to many Jewish actors, producers and directors. One might think that living in that sort of environment would make you a bit more tolerant.
There’s nothing wrong with criticizing some of the policies of the government of Israel. I’ve done it myself over the years, particularly when they seem to be moving in a less democratic direction. But what we’ve been seeing during the current round of attacks is something different. It’s quite visceral with a lot of these celebrities and far-left Democrats. It’s not just a disagreement. It just comes across as a seething form of hatred.
Even when some of them recognize that Hamas started this latest round of violence, they manage to brush that aside, talking about “asymmetrical warfare” as Ruffalo did. Just as a free hint for these folks, when your sentence begins with, “yes, I understand that thousands of missiles have been launched into Israel by Hamas..” there shouldn’t be a “but” after that.
The death toll in this conflict is actually still remarkably low when you consider how densely populated Gaza is. Israel takes care to identify Hamas military targets and installations, publicly providing the intelligence they drew upon to identify those targets. Hama fires rockets indiscriminately into apartment complexes and civilian businesses. And yet people still manage to find some reason to place the lion’s share of the blame on Israel. Ruffalo is only one of many, but at least he walked back the genocide claim.
Now maybe he can go have a chat with Gigi Hadid. She’s been setting her hair on fire on social media for a while now over the “Palestinian oppression.”
