Rihanna slammed for Israel-Palestine post

As celebrities continue to sound off on the violence between Israel and Palestine, fans have taken to Twitter to call them out for wading in to the highly sensitive conflict.

The latest to cop heat for posting their thoughts is Rihanna.

Taking to Instagram today, Rihanna wrote: “My heart is breaking with the violence I’m seeing displayed between Israel and Palestine! I can’t bare to see it! Innocent Israeli and Palestinian children are hiding in bomb shelters, over 40 lives lost in Gaza alone, at least 13 of whom were also innocent children!”

She added: “There needs to be some kind of resolve! We are sadly watching innocent people fall victim to notions perpetuated by government and extremists, and this cycle needs to be broken!”

Responding to her statement, many condemned the star for her choice of words, while others slammed her for speaking out at all.

 

ok, rihanna just made me realize something. if you don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t speak. if you just simply care about innocent people losing their lives, just repost helpful links. it’s not a difficult concept

— syncere charts ? (@moonlightbabe_y) May 13, 2021

RELATED: Gadot faces backlash for Israel tweet

It’s not the first time RiRi been pulled into the Israel-Palestine conflict.

In 2014, she tweeted #FreePalestine, causing another social media firestorm.

Although the singer tried to back-pedal on her international political view by deleting the post, it was retweeted nearly 70,000 times before she took it down.

A source later told TMZ that Rihanna had accidentally posted the tweet after clicking a link in an article.
 

“She deleted it because it was never meant to be tweeted,” the source said.

“She didn’t even realise it was a tweet until she started hearing from her fans,” the source added.

Rihanna followed up with a message calling for peace.

“Let’s pray for peace and a swift end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict! Is there any hope?” she wrote.
 

The year before, her concert in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv had one very brief, strangely political moment that turned out to be a misheard lyric.

When performing the song Pour it Up, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, she substituted the lyric “All I see is dollar signs” with the phrase “All I see is Palestine.”

A video recording by a fan cleared up the controversy, proving that she had actually used the normal lyrics and hadn’t mentioned Palestine at all, The Washington Post reported.
 

Earlier today, Israeli-born Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot attracted backlash for a tweet about Israel.

Her attempt to post a unifying message on Twitter amid the ongoing violence in the Middle East backfired as critics instead assailed the actress for her experience fighting in the Israeli Defence Forces when she was younger.

Many have even accused her of being a “propaganda” tool for the Israeli military.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched rockets into Israel this week after the nation refused to withdraw its forces from the Al-Aqsa mosque compound following violent clashes before a controversial Israeli “Jerusalem Day” march.

The Hamas rockets targeted Jerusalem, southern Israel and Tel Aviv. Israel responded by launching a series of air strikes, killing a top Hamas commander and several other senior Hamas militants.
 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added that they will use “an iron fist if needed” to stop accompanying violent protests by Arab citizens. More than 30 people have been killed in the escalating violence, which marks the two sides’ most serious conflict since the 2014 Gaza War.

“My heart breaks,” Gadot, who was born in Israel, wrote on Wednesday. “My country is at war.”

Social media users immediately posted nasty comments about the actress and would not let her forget her time serving in IDF, with multiple people accusing her of supporting “ethnic cleansing” and “mass genocide” for wishing Israel peace.

However, as Gadot’s supporters noted, Israeli military service is mandatory for all Israeli citizens over the age of 18, including most young women.