ANOTHER week, another somewhat mindless celebrity grovelling to their jaded fanbase over whatever gaffe has lost them a few thousand Instagram followers this week – or in Noah Schnapp’s case, the potential to ruin the Netflix career that put him on our radar in the first place.
Since Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza began more than 100 miserable days ago, this star of flagship Netflix show Stranger Things has made it his personality to aggressively support the Israeli regime.
At the beginning of the military bombardment that has now seen almost 30,000 Palestinians murdered, Schnapp took to social media to condemn anyone who dared to criticise Israel. He went as far as to assert that anyone who didn’t support Israel was, by default, a terrorist sympathiser.
It shows how far the discourse has evolved in the past 100 days as the facts have become soberingly clearer that this was a statement a celebrity of his standing could have made at the time with little thought for consequence. We have, after all, managed to pivot from “bombing a hospital is a heinous war crime that Israel would simply never commit”, to “Israel is now carpet-bombing the very last one left of 36 hospitals across the Gaza Strip, after bombing every single one of them”. In terms of a shift in perspective, apparently nothing is off limits.
Despite criticism at the time from those genuinely attuned to the situation, he went on to double down on his ill-thought mission. He posted stories of himself giggling with his friends while they played with “Zionism is sexy” stickers and shared a comedy skit to his Instagram that mocked the plight of Palestinians as they were facing famine, mass slaughter and displacement.
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Due to the success of multiple ongoing boycotts taking place globally against businesses who are directly funding or supporting the Israeli regime – not least coffee-giant Starbucks which has reported losses of around £9.5 billion ($12bn) – Schnapp has taken to social media this week to roll back on his comments, no doubt at the behest of the Netflix executives who were hoping the next instalment of Stranger Things would be as lucrative as the first four.
In his video, he stated that his beliefs have been “so far misconstrued” – which I found particularly interesting. “You either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism” seems like a pretty clear outline of his beliefs to me. Almost impossible to misconstrue, really.
He goes on to say that he simply wishes for an end to the hostility on both sides, seemingly ignoring the elephant in the room that while at least 24,285 Palestinians are dead and doctors are having to amputate their own children on their kitchen tables without anaesthesia, Israeli TikTok is full of coffee runs and choreography to Cuff It by Beyonce. There are no two sides – there is an oppressed people who have been systematically oppressed for decades, and a rogue state intent on destroying the former and its people.
A statement as hollow and empty as the intention behind it, then? Shocking.
While I think, and have argued, that the level of influence celebrities enjoy comes with responsibility to address world issues like the destruction of Gaza – that responsibility is only worthwhile if they have taken the time to educate themselves on what it is they feel compelled to speak on.
In this particular example, when the Israeli regime has used Schnapps’s comments to strengthen its own propaganda, his interference has not only been irresponsible – it has undoubtedly contributed to the continuation of the Zionist campaign against Palestinians and emboldened those wreaking havoc and devastation across the Gaza Strip.
I think the ability to engage in critical thought when it comes to celebrity commentary is essential. Yes, they have a responsibility to speak if they have actually engaged in active learning on the issue they’re passing comment on – but I think it’s safe to say we probably shouldn’t be relying on our favourite celebrities as reputable sources of information on the complex geopolitical history of the Middle East.
Elsewhere in the week, Clare Daly MEP spoke with a blunt brilliance in the European Parliament about how there is no way for Israel to redeem itself. That no matter how or when this man-made catastrophe ends, it will forever be known as a pariah state. Stained with apartheid and genocide. On the same token, there’s no way aggressively Zionist celebrities like Schnapp who not only supported, aided and peddled the lies of a genocidal campaign, but only mustered up the courage to backtrack when his hand was forced more than a hundred days later, comes out of this in any way favourably.
Quite spectacularly, Daly went on to call out “butcher Biden” for his complicity in Israeli war crimes, and met Ursula von der Leyen with an equally scathing evaluation for her involvement. Much like Tony Blair is forever remembered for his terrible decision-making on the Iraq war, it seems Biden, von der Leyen and co will join the war criminal hall of infamy.
And Noah Schnapp? He will forever be the wee guy from Stranger Things who torpedoed his own career when he cheered on the genocide of some of the most persecuted people in the world. As he is now finding out, no lacklustre TikTok apology can save his career from his own self.
The world is forever changed by the situation in Palestine. It is the first time in history that a genocide has been livestreamed in HD. The entire world has watched this play out in real time from our phones, and we will be forever changed by it. No-one will forget, and we will all remember what those in positions of power did and said to enable it.
My advice to our (ex) favourite child actor? You’ve made your bed, lie in it.
