Celebrities’ Israel visits have long been criticized

While a host of celebrities have faced backlash for publicly expressing their thoughts on the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, several household names have been criticized for visiting Israel over the years, social media posts show.

The complexities of enduring tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in the region, coupled with an ever-increasing number of critics populating social media, has made speaking out on the matter a tough balancing act for those supporting either side. Celebrities who have called for a ceasefire, and even those who have maintained a public silence, have also been roundly criticized.

Hamas launched an October 7 surprise attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages to the Gaza Strip. Israel subsequently responded with unrelenting airstrikes and a ground invasion after declaring war on Hamas. An estimated two-thirds of Gaza’s 2.3 million population have been displaced, while more than 11,000 people have been killed there and thousands injured, according to the Associated Press.

There have been calls for a ceasefire, amid concerns for Palestinian civilians. It was also revealed Israel had blocked such essentials as food, fuel, electricity and medical supplies from entering Gaza.

Some stars have thrown their support behind Palestinians or Israelis, but even those taking a neutral stance—such as Angelina Jolie or Selena Gomez—are being criticized for not taking sides.

In reductive terms, voicing sympathy for the Palestinian lives lost has been portrayed by detractors as supporting the actions of militant group Hamas. Conversely, a public statement mourning the Israelis killed or kidnapped has been dismissed as aligning with apartheid and Zionism.

Zionism refers to the Jewish nationalist movement formed in 1897 that pushed to create a state for Jewish people in Palestine. This eventually led to the formation of Israel in 1948, following the Holocaust, which saw more than 6 million Jewish people die. However, some critics of Zionism have argued the creation of Israel forced Palestinians off their land in what is called the Nakba.

Such unfavorable views of Israel have led to a number of celebrities—including Kim Kardashian, Conan O’Brien, and Karlie Kloss—risking the wrath of detractors online for even visiting the country over the years.

Back in June 2015, Kardashian and her then-husband Kanye “Ye” West visited Israel, where they had their eldest daughter, North, christened. At the time, Kardashian was pregnant with their second child, Saint.

“Baptizing North in Jerusalem in an Armenian church with our new baby in my belly was so special,” Kardashian captioned an image of the moment as she shared it on her Instagram account.

While Kardashian is known for sharing elements of her life with the public, such was the vitriol expressed online at the time that Kardashian opted to disable comments on the post.

Model Ashley Graham showed her Instagram followers that she was in Tel Aviv to attend an event celebrating Forbes Israel‘s second annual 30 Under 30 List.

Striking a pose as she donned a fluffy white bathrobe, Graham looked glamorous as she paused to take a selfie while readying herself for the soirée.

“Tel Aviv glam #ForbesUnder30,” she wrote alongside the photo, which has racked up almost 170,000 likes since the time it was uploaded.

The post attracted a host of “Free Palestine” responses, prompting one Instagram user to write: “Free Palestine from Hamas. Palestine is free from Israel, use your brain and some logic! Palestine has its own government and leaders with mansions in Europe while not caring about what happens in their country.”

In August 2017, pop icon Britney Spears reminisced about her first ever concert in Israel, that had taken place in the previous month. Such was the anticipation around the Tel Aviv show that the Israeli Labor Party’s primary election was delayed by a day to accommodate it.

Looking back on the show, Spears took to Instagram to share an image of the sizable crowd of attendees, many of whom were seen holding their phones aloft.

“Still can’t believe this happened in Tel Aviv!!!!” Spears captioned the photo. “What an amazing way to end the tour last month!!”

Amid a flood of messages asking for Spears to return to the country, one Instagram user commented: “Shame on you @britneyspears playing on occupied land where Israeli forces are commuting genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian population. You’ve lost my vote #freepalestine #boycottisrael.”

“So what office is she running for?” a Spears fan countered, while another pointed out that the “Toxic” hitmaker is “an entertainer.”

Also in August 2017, comedian Conan O’Brien ignited a decidedly mixed reaction when he shared a photo of himself posing with two plates of hummus.

“This is my 7th day in #Israel, my body is 62% hummus. #ConanIsrael,” he wrote alongside the image at the time.

“Thank you for visiting Israel the indigenous home of the Jews,” read one comment among the stream of positive reactions.

However, there was also a barrage of negative reactions, one of which read: “Oh glad it was filled with hummus instead of the blood of Palestinian people. Cause you know, you’re in ‘Israel.'”

Karlie Kloss—who is married to Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Jared Kushner—took to the image-sharing platform in April 2018 to post a selfie that she geotagged as having been taken in Israel.

Smiling as she stood with her back to a sweeping vista, the model and entrepreneur captioned her post with a simple blue heart. Despite not using any words to describe her post, a spirited debate ensued in the comments section.

“Wow. And I really admired you for your work towards STEM for girls,” wrote one detractor. “You brought it all down with naming this location Israel.”

Countering the negative messages that flowed in, another told Kloss that they admired her all the more for the post, adding: “Israel is a wonderful country with very good people. I moved to Israel because of it.”

In April 2018, model and actor Kate Upton posted an image on Instagram that showed her riding a camel during her visit to Israel.

Using an emoji to caption the upload, the Michigan-born, Florida-raised star wrote: “[Camel] crossing.”

The otherwise fun-filled image sparked objection, with one Instagram user commenting: “It’s Palestine, not what you call it ‘Israel.'”

“I’m weak as hell,” said another in reaction to wave of comments attacking Upton’s choice of geotag. “It’s always gonna be [Israel]. You commenting won’t change that.”

While the criticism of those who speak out about the current Israel-Hamas conflict makes the silence of others understandable, Evan Nierman, CEO of global PR firm Red Banyan, previously told Newsweek that celebrities should be applauded, not attacked, for being willing to share their points of view.

“I think that this is a tricky situation, because on the one hand, people reflexively want to somehow strike a balance [when it comes to] the death of innocents on both sides, which makes sense,” Nierman said. “However, there is a fundamental difference between that and targeting innocent civilians, for murder and mutilation.

“So I don’t think playing the moral equivalency game goes very far when you’re trying to compare a Western-style democracy that operates with integrity to a bloodthirsty terrorist organization.

“And I think that there are a lot of people who do not understand the dynamics at play. They have very little knowledge of the details of Hamas, their ideology, and yet they just want to have comments on what’s going on.”

Nierman, author The Cancel Culture Curse, believes that heightened emotions around the conflict have made public figures feel compelled to share their opinions on the matter, even if those opinions are unpopular. This has seen several non-Jewish celebrities also condemned for their statements on the war.

“It’s a scary scenario and a scary situation,” Nierman said. “And there is so much misinformation, and there’s so much hatred. And this has the potential to spiral well outside of the Middle East, and impact the lives of other people globally—especially within the Jewish community. I do think it takes a level of moral courage to weigh in on this topic, and by being willing to say things that will be unpopular with a certain set online.”