Hollywood actress Jamie Lee Curtis and Canadian singer Justin Bieber have faced online backlash for sharing images from war-torn Gaza with captions expressing support for Israel. Both celebrities mistakenly believed the images were from Israel and subsequently removed their posts.
Jamie Lee Curtis, known for her roles in films like “Freaky Friday” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” posted a photo by photographer Samar Abu Elouf from the New York Times on Sunday. She captioned it “TERROR FROM THE SKIES” alongside an Israeli flag. After users pointed out the photo actually depicted Palestinian children, she deleted the post and replaced it with a generic image of two children with the caption emphasizing the protection of all children in times of war.
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Justin Bieber, on the other hand, shared an image to his story on Wednesday, featuring an aerial view of a bombing site in Gaza with the words “Praying for Israel” superimposed. He swiftly deleted it and replaced it with a simple “Praying for Israel” accompanied by a broken heart emoji.
Criticism was directed at both celebrities for failing to post about Palestine and for not acknowledging their initial mistakes. They were also called out for showing concern only when Israelis were affected by the violence.
The recent escalation of hostilities started when Hamas launched a significant assault on Israel early on Saturday, firing rockets from Gaza and sending fighters across the border. In response, Israel launched its own strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza. Reports of gun battles between Palestinian fighters and security forces in southern Israel emerged.
The ongoing conflict has resulted in over 2,300 estimated casualties on both sides, with the sole power plant in Gaza running out of fuel, leaving nearly two million people in darkness after Israel cut off water, food, and power supplies.
