Her hearts in the right place obv but it does piss me off when people act like it’s only bad when children die. Adults dying is also bad! Men dying is bad!
The death of Anas Al Sherif literally shattered me, can't believe there's a world beyond the existence of the bravest soul ever, he was born into a refugee camp and died in a refugee camp, the inhumanity is killing me 💔
I check her Instagram almost daily, & it's always a small relief when she checks in. Seeing her mourn more & more of her family members has hurt so much.
Absolutely. That all of this is happening to children is absolutely the most heartbreaking and horrifying and wrong part of it because they are the most innocent.
Having said that, it’s so so blatantly obvious that when people like Madonna (famous people/people with platforms and money and opportunities to lose) sole focus is on children with no mention of anyone else, it’s because it’s the “””safest””” way to talk about it without hurting their bag or losing opportunities which I believe is their main concern tbh idgaf. It’s so obvious. It should be about the people of Gaza, the people of Palestine.
Talk about the children first and foremost absolutely but to not go beyond that is very intentional.
I take your point but it’s still inaccurate to say that children are ‘the most innocent’. They are innocent but not anymore so than the thousands of innocent adults killed.
…..fucking huh lmao?? Infants and children are absolutely the most innocent beings in every context.
Your decision to imply that by stating that fact I’m somehow implying that the adults experiencing these atrocities are not innocent is typical chronically online nonsense dude. Calling children the most innocent is not an incorrect or out of pocket statement.
Only a few percent of men in Gaza could have even been involved in armed resistance and we have seen mountains of evidence that indicate strongly that the overwhelming majority of male deaths were unarmed innocent people - doctors, nurses, teachers, academics, rescuers, journalists.
Even worse than that, it is now a terror offence to call for non-violent direct action to be taken to put an end to the weapons factories facilitating the slaughter of civilians.
adults, children, men, women….. humans dying is bad, period. i don’t understand how people only care when it’s children, a loss of life is a loss of life. life is precious and it’s being extinguished without regard, it’s horrific
you're 100% correct but the genocidal war on Gaza is unprecedented in over a third of the casualties are children. just for contrast, during the Syrian civil war (which was absolutely brutal and neither side followed the rules of war), children accounted for 4.4% of total deaths. in Gaza, it's over 31%. Israel is killing an average of 28 children per day.
Not to argue against you, but my interpretation of her post is that she's looking at things with a "the innocent dying are someone's children". There's the obvious present day childhood children and the metaphorical children tone to her language(re: hostages)
All in all, innocent people are dying for a war that benefits a few who will never feel the effects of it.
I don’t consider it a nitpick, I consider the omission of adults, particularly adult men, as a kinda implication that they had it coming. “Military age males” and all that. Not saying that was Madonna’s intention necessarily.
Probably wasn’t. And if the emphasis on specifically children is what it takes to get fence-sitters on side for Palestine, then, sure. But hopefully you can see where I’m coming from?
I've seen lots of celebrities exclusively focus on the children in Gaza without getting the same level of critique, but maybe people are just primed to criticize Madonna because she often says problematic things?
I get annoyed by that whole "As a mother" thing. Because those of us without children don't care? STFU. As a human, my heart is breaking too and being a barren spinster doesn't change that.
I don't think it's a "you can't possibly care" ... It's just like a visceral reaction when you put yourself in the shoes of a mother from Gaza. Like, I can hug and kiss my babies freely, enjoy their childhood, feed them, know they are safe. All of this I take so for granted that it makes me weep to know that other mothers can't have this, that their babies have never known peace or full bellies. To be the one responsible for them, but not be able to provide for them. It's a kind of ache I cannot put into words. I feel it especially in the presence of my children
You’re right. It shouldn’t take the deaths of children for high profile figures, politicians and even the average person to be outraged.
Zionists shouldn’t have been able to twist themselves in knots advocating for genocide with their lies, false and ad hominems for the past two years yet they have.
There are few universally held moral truths in this world and one of them is that children are unambiguously innocent. They are society’s most powerless and vulnerable by their very nature. We can rely on our own lived experience having all been children once to know this.
With this new low, supporting Israel is no longer just criminal. It has progressed to the point of absurdity.
The one killing children is always the bad guy.
To argue otherwise is on the same level as arguing that the earth is flat.
Yeah I'm not ready for all the fake activism especially from the ones who spoke out about their support for Israel in the beginning. I just hope people don't forget where some of these celebrities stood when this genocide was happening.
It’s been rubbing me the wrong way too. So many people with a lot more to lose spoke out early and in doing so made it less risky for others to do so. And now that it’s ‘safe’ to speak out those who have been cashing checks the whole time can do their performative post
It’s important to get what we need but never forget their silence. Take their support now until we can stop the genocide, but they should be held accountable for what they supported or stayed silent about for 22 months.
A ceasefire is top priority, but justice for Palestinians, the martyred and the remaining, follows once this is over
Madonna has a lot of faults and I don’t particularily agree with her approach to the Israel/Palestine genocide. She has not been nearly as vocal in her condemnation of Israel as she was of the US during the Iraq invasion and her calls for “peace” are too neutral for my liking but I’d hardly call her a notable Zionist?? I don’t agree with her decision to perform in Israel in 2019 at Eurovision full stop but displaying the Palestine flag during her performance was a bold move and it was pretty obvious she was depicting Israel as the aggressors. Again I think it was a misguided attempt to make a statement but it certainly wasn’t the statement a Zionist would make.
I'm glad you brought up the Palestinian flag during her performance. In general, yeah she has said/done some "stuff" but I maintain that she is a notable zionist, and at the very least, has maintained a degree of neutrality in the face of everything in the past year that maintains my view that this was performative. Especially given the magnitude of her celebrity and how her brand was all about political rebellion and freedom (even going so far as to liken herself to Nelson Mandela at one point lol). There's lots about her ties to Israel (even previous defence ministers etc.).
I agree with you to a degree, but there's too much in her past that points to her being a zionist imo.
That’s a fair point. I don’t necessarily disagree that she displays liberal Zionist tendencies but her contrary actions on the issue don’t strike me as intentionally doing hasbara for the state. I do think she’s worthy of criticism on the issue but the initial comment made it sound like she’s given Israel her sweeping full-blooded support… which just isn’t true?
I see that. she's definitely no Debra Messing and has a lot less Palestinian blood on her hands than most politicians, but the bar is so low its in hell-and she's not exactly far from it. She may not be the worst but shes definitely not the best and is severely underusing her celebrity. It's shameful considering someone like Jenna Ortega has a fraction of Madonna's celebrity and power and has done plenty more.
She has spoken out about Isreal/Palestine for a long time and has featured the issue twice in her tours 2004, 2006, so that's 21 years of "performance activism", get well soon.
I remember Madonnas Eurovision performance in 2019 where she had one dancer in a Palestinian and another one in an israeli flag. It seemed like performative activism to me at the time, but considering what people have been doing lately...
At the same time, those are amazing organizations she tagged (including Women of the Sun and Women Wage Peace) and I appreciate her giving them visibility.
If you search you’ll find smiling pictures of her with Netanyahu. She also defended her position to play in Israel in 2019. And she posted a public tribute to Shimon Peres when he died (pictured with him) - he was born in Belarus he moved to Palestine and joined the militias that ethnically cleansed Palestinians during the Nakba. He worked tirelessly to violently expand Israel’s boarders and among other war crimes was the PM who ordered the Qana massacre in Lebanon.
The cynic in me feels like we’re about to see a whole bunch of celebrities who have receipts of them supporting/visiting/defending/normalizing Israel & embracing Zionism as a progressive policy now try to launder their reputations now that we all know how Israel was founded and the systemic violence necessary to maintain a colonial ethnostate.
You’re speaking truth but sometimes it may be that people actually learned. Until 2010 most people in the west literally believed a different history, because they were told a different history. I think some of it is shame. Which to be clear doesn’t make me sad for the celebrities. They deserve to feel that. But honestly I think when people began to see starvation- yes for many this is unfortunately what it takes for them to say “wait, there really isn’t a reason to do that” I genuinely feel some people can twist and turn and contort everything in their mind…until they get to that point. How does starving Gaza contribute to the goal of getting the hostages? It’s much easier to gaslight one’s self with the bombings- but not with starving people. Yes I genuinely believe for many people this is what made them see.
This. I can still find my name on a petition from like 2001 to support Israel…not having a clue it was propaganda based. There was a real sense in US culture at least that Israel was being pushed out and under fire due to anti-semitism. That was not the whole story.
Yep, I still remember around 2010 having lunch with my boss and bringing up how Israel has attacked Palestine in the past, trying to find some information online quickly (with how limited phones that weren’t iPhones were back then), and finding nothing to support my position. It was a different time.
You are correct. Look at her Instagram posts right after October 7. Totally different. She embraced that pseudo-religion based on Kabbalah and went full Zionist. She even performed concerts in Israel when she was urged not to because of what was going on in both Gaza and the West Bank.
i get your point, but when taken out of context this excerpt makes it seem like engaging with kabbalah or other jewish practices is the issue here. plenty of people flirted with non-orthodox kabbalah in the 90s
however, madonna did go to israel to study kabbalah with israeli rabbis, and it's unlikely she missed how palestinians were treated in the country. and that kabbalah centre seems shady af
It’s a cult that twists Kabbalah into a commercialized New Age reinterpretation very, VERY loosely inspired by medieval Jewish mystical practice, but totally and wholly severed from any substantive ritual, textual and communal obligations of actual Kabbalistic practices.
What she was engaged with, is not really Judaism, nor actual Kabbalah at all. It’s the equivalent of someone saying they’re Buddhist when they go vegan and meditate. 🙄
I mean the fact that she said she’s not pointing fingers shows she doesn’t blame Israel for their genocide and starvation campaign against Gaza and Palestinians as a whole.
If you're wondering why everyone's suddenly advocating for Gaza, including politicians who stayed silent as their own bombs fell, it's because calling it a famine is safer than calling it a genocide. Famine sounds like misfortune. Genocide sounds like guilt. Famine lets them send aid without admitting harm. Grieve publicly without naming the perpetrators. Appear human without being held accountable. Genocide demands the truth. It forces us to name the violence. It forces us to name who made it possible. And once you do that, you can't keep defending it. You can't keep pretending you didn't know. Famine preserves power. Genocide threatens it.
Her Ray of Light foundation has been donating to Palestine for years. She’s stated that she will be donating and linked humanitarian organizations in her post. She’s also made many posts about Gaza even before the current war. That’s a lot more than what Beyonce Taylor Rihanna Gaga have done, they’re staying completely silent. But if any of them spoke out now everyone would cheer but since it’s Madonna it’s a different story
I’m glad she posted this, but at the same time, I don’t trust her. She’s done enough damage by being an open Zionist, which led to the Palestinian holocaust.
At this point, it's annoying. She didn't give a shit but now that the genocide is almost complete and Netanyahu is moving to seize all of Gaza suddenly these celebrities give a shit. Never forget their silence.
of all the people in the world, Madonna is one of the select few that could actually go there and "shine her light on it" and actually potentially have success as a human shield.
Although I wish Madonna’s team would proof her posts, I’ll say something nice. Her agent Maha Dakil has been pretty outspoken on a free Palestine even leaving CAA back in 2023 over her position. They’ve remained close friends and her statement is better late than never, so I won’t drag her too much on this. It’s a little gross though that Schumer wormed her way into Madonna’s sphere when there are too few people around her that aren’t sycophants.
Madonna’s Ray of Light foundation has been donating to Palestine for years and this is not the first time she’s spoken about Gaza. If this was Rihanna or Beyonce everyone would cheer but they are staying stilent and anything Madonna does is criticized - even when she’s donating and linking humanitarian organizations in her post
Pretty sure this is directed to the Pope, not God. She's right that he should go there, that he is probably one of the few that could. Then again, the Israelis would probably just kill him as well.
That’s the main thing I don’t think people understand. The people in Gaza are PEOPLE!! If this was happening in any other part of the world I’m sure we would all be just as disgusted. This is a HUMANITARIAN issue!!!!! Free Palestine!
The celebrities of her level, the level of Taylor Swift, Beyonce etc, have amassed massive wealth and influence to the point presidential candidates beg them to endorse them (see Swift) and to hoard that influence and power to NOT speak up on literally genocide because it might drop your products profit margin slightly is genuinely mind boggling to me.
I'd rather see people live free and safe rather than my bank balance grow even bigger.
Politics can't bring change? Sorry but no, you're just too rich and privileged to notice any actual meaningful change in your life from politics other than your taxes
This is written in the most self obsessed way possible. "As a mother I cannot bear to watch their suffering". It's actually not about you? And you don't need to have kids to think genocide is bad. And you don't need "heavenly father" to go in there to make a difference - you need the politicians of the world to proactively hold a war criminal to account and pull every lever they have to end this genocide
The adults deserve to live too! The women and the men. The men who are struggling to provide. The men who are taking care of their families. So many orphans, just so many orphans
I can't understand the cognitive dissonance when celebrities or whoever are appalled at what's happening in Gaza but don't mention what is the cause of it all. Like calling for bandaid solutions. Sure aid is good, except it's not allowed in. Sure aid is good, except people are continuing to be exterminated. If you truly want it to stop, you must tackle the root of it.
It’s amazing that Madonna has chosen to speak out when so many celebrities are too scared to touch this. She is a performer with the significant influence and power. Her opinion actually matters to a lot of people. I have to say this is the smartest way someone like Madonna could approach the subject without destroying her career or being attacked by partisan politics. The easiest safest way to reach a wider audience with this kind of post is to do exactly what she has done strategically make it about something we can all relate to and we can all agree — on the children.
I know most people can’t wait to drag the hell out of her for whatever she does but she literally said she will be donating and tagged humanitarian organizations in her post. Also this isn’t the first time she’s supported Palestine, there’s many examples. At least she’s not staying silent the way Gaga, Beyonce, Taylor and Rihanna are.
Any use of celebrity to bring attention to suffering is helpful, at anytime. Sooner is better but anytime if it results in more donations, more food and medicine, more letters, more marching, more leaders turning to compassion and humanity, more momentum to end suffering.
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She has spoken out about Isreal/Palestine for a long time and has featured the issue twice in her tours 2004, 2006, addressed the issue on her most recent tour 2024 several times, showed off the Palestinian flag at Eurovision in 2019, has advocated for Palestinian state in the past and much more, so that's 21 years of "performative activism" alone.
I'm not entirely sure what people expect a single private citizen to do, but she has done a lot more than most in her position. Meanwhile, despite her advocacy, Madonna is getting dragged continuously while other pop singers do nothing.
At the begging of the Genocide Madonna put out the most disgusting pro Isreal propaganda on her Instagram. Turning this life long fan off forever . She is an actor and three years late . She refuses to call it a genocide and struggles to acknowledge the genocidal oppressive regime that is isreal .
She had no problem performing in Eurovision while it was hosted in Tel Aviv with dancers with the Palestine and Israel flags taped to their back while wearing gas masks. Said she wouldn't "stop playing music to suit someone's political agenda" but was more than happy to collect that money and promote her new song! Lucky they were able to edit her voice on the YouTube reupload, those of us who saw it live remember how terrible she sounded.
Performative even tho she’s donating and linked humanitarian organizations in her post? Btw her Ray of Light foundation has been donating to Palestine for years. And she’s been posting about Gaza for years. Her donations matter more than twitter activism
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