Celebrities Voice Their Support for Palestine, Opposition to Israel

As the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues to escalate, it has caught the attention of many prominent figures, including a rock star, an NBA player, and a scientist, who are publicly taking a stand against Israel and throwing their support behind the Palestinians.

Performing in England over the weekend, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder launched into a profanity-laced tirade in which he appeared to criticize Israelis, “who are looking for a reason to kill.” (Comments begin at about the 4-minute mark).

“They’re looking for a reason to go across borders and take over land that doesn’t belong to them,” he said, never explicitly referring to Israel. “They should get the f*** out, and mind their own f***ing business.”

“We don’t want to give them our money,” Vedder continued. “We don’t want to give them our taxes to drop bombs on children.”

Additionally, famed physicist Stephen Hawking reemphasized his support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

Hawking withdrew from an upcoming conference at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, for what were initially thought to be health-related reasons. But World Bulletin, a pro-Palestine news site, reports that Hawking sent a letter to organizers criticizing the Israeli government.

Meanwhile, The Nation’s sports editor Dave Zirin, himself a supporter of the Palestinians, noticed that Houston Rockets center and NBA all-star Dwight Howard tweeted using the #FreePalestine hashtag over the weekend before quickly deleting his tweet.

Howard was reacting to picture of destruction from the conflict.

Howard eventually apologized for the tweet, and vowed that he “never will” comment on international politics again.

​Complex notes that Howard’s may have decided to delete his tweets because of his teammate Omri Casspi, the first Israeli to play in the NBA. Casspi has been vocal in his support for Israel. (Casspi was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans late Sunday night.)