Selma Blair has revealed new details about the career fallout she faced following a controversial Instagram comment she made amid the Israel-Hamas war in February 2024.
The veteran star said she lost her entire career and the team that supported it — talent agency CAA, a manager of 30 years, a lawyer and personal and book publicists — in the wake of leaving a comment widely criticized as anti-Islamic under a video posted by immigration reform advocate Abraham Hamra. Though she apologized, Blair noted it wasn't enough and not only did she lose that team but also brand deals, payment for a supposed Super Bowl advertisement, her son's godmother and more. So much that, she says, she came to learn "what erased feels like."
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The IDF Calls Gaza Documentary 'NAZA' "Distorted, Misleading and Disingenuous"
Selma Blair Set for Bridget Stokes' Mystical Coming of Age Film 'Schmoolie The Deathwatcher'

#Career #Instagram #Israel #islamic

Adam Brody drew a sharp response from Rabbi Steve Leder after publicly sharing his views on Gaza and Palestine.
Leder previously worked as a technical consultant on the first season of ******* ody Wants This. He criticized Brody after the actor said in a recent GQ interview that he considered the situation in Gaza a "genocide" and supported a "free Palestine." Brody also expressed hope that a future U.S. administration could change policies affecting the situation.
Leder addressed Adam Brody's Gaza comments in an Instagram video and reminded the actor of their previous professional connection.
"My job was to make sure that your character was authentic and that everything in Season 1 about Judaism was authentic," Leder said.
Brody played Rabbi Noah Roklov in ******* ody Wants This. His character began a relationship with agnostic podcaster Joanne Williams, played by Kristen Bell.

#wants

The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has exercised a hold on a $2.8 billion weapons sale to Israel, The Hill has learned, allying with her counterpart in the House and underscoring deep mistrust with the Trump administration and Israeli government.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) has expressed frustration that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done nothing to address concerns from, specifically, Democratic lawmakers over the high civilian death tolls in Gaza, Israel’s bombing in Syria and escalating violence against Palestinians by extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
The weapons package includes 40,000 one-ton bombs, munitions that the former Biden administration held back from sending to Israel for its indiscriminate destruction, contributing to the high death toll in the Gaza Strip.
An estimated 70,000 Palestinians were killed over the course of the three-year war between Israel and Hamas, according to Palestinian health officials, but that does not distinguish between militants and civilians.
Shaheen, as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations panel, has authority to hold back the Trump administration from moving ahead on weapons sales over a certain dollar amount. It’s generally an informal consultative process, where the State Department works to address a lawmaker’s concerns and get the green light before moving ahead on the arms sale.

#Israel #israeli #weapons #democrat

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Wednesday that he's going to block a proposed sale of $2.8 billion in heavy weaponry to Israel over concerns that the powerful bombs may not be used in line with U.S. and international law.
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York said he would withhold approval for the sale because of "grave, unresolved concerns" about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
"The Trump administration has not provided sufficient ****** urances that these weapons will be used by the Netanyahu government in accordance with U.S. law and with appropriate protections for civilians," Meeks said in a statement. "I therefore will not clear this sale at this time."
Meeks' objections, however, will not likely affect the sale, which was informally notified to lawmakers on Tuesday. Once it is formally notified to Congress, Secretary of State Marco Rubio can bypass the normal congressional review process by making an emergency determination that the transaction is an urgent national security interest.
Rubio has done so in the past, including bypassing a normal congressional review process to approve a nearly $3 billion sale to Israel last year. The administration then approved a new series of arms sales to Israel totaling $6.67 billion in January.

#used

JERUSALEM, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that a new documentary film which alleges that mass civilian deaths were routinely built into targeting ‌decisions in Gaza was part of a wave of global incitement against Jews.
"NAZA", directed ‌by Israeli journalists Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday and received a 25-minute standing ovation when it was screened on Thursday.
The film takes its **** le from an Israeli military term for expected "collateral casualties" and is built around anonymous interviews with intelligence officers and soldiers involved in the war.
"It's shocking. We are fighting global antisemitic incitement and when it comes from ‌within us it is intolerable," Netanyahu ⁠said in a video posted on Telegram. "And now two Israeli directors portraying the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) as war criminals receive applause at the Venice festival."
Netanyahu's ⁠comments followed a statement from the Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir, who said the film constituted an attack on the state of Israel.

#global

Comedian Bill Maher called Democratic politicians "cowards" while doubling down on his stance that the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers were not — a position that infamously led to ABC canceling his show more than two decades ago.
In a segment on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" Friday, the comedian reaffirmed his opinion that "the terrorists weren't cowards" which he initially said after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"I know a guy whose show got canceled just for saying the terrorists weren't cowards. And that guy was right. They weren't cowards, but I'll tell you who is: Democratic Party politicians," Maher said.
He added that this "moral confusion" within the party is most notable when talking about "a place called Gaza."
"A little strip of land that was not part of the original Israel, but which they won in a war launched against them, but then gave back as a peace gesture," he said.

#cowards #democratic #called #politicians

Comedian Bill Maher spent the first night of Rosh Hashanah taking aim at Macklemore and other anti-Israel celebrities, arguing that calling the war in Gaza a genocide is fueling a global rise in antisemitism.
During Friday night's episode of HBO's "Real Time," Maher first criticized members of the Democratic Party who have spoken out against Israel during the Israel-Hamas war.
"Because nowhere has this moral confusion become more obvious than in a place called Gaza," Maher said. "A little strip of land that was not part of the original Israel, but they won in a war launched against them, but then gave back, gave back as a peace gesture — did they tell you that part on TikTok, kids?"
Bill Maher Blasts Democratic Party, Says It Is Fine With Religion 'As Long As That Faith Isn't Jewish'
Bill Maher arrives for the 27th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor gala at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on June 28, 2026, in Washington, D.C.

#first

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hated the governments and policies of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but said she loved America and Israel during an interview Thursday.
"I have said repeatedly I love Israel and I hate Netanyahu's government and his policies. I love America, and I hate Trump's government and policies. I think it's bad, in the first case for Israel, what's happening, and I think it's really bad for the United States, what's happening," Clinton told MS NOW's "Morning Joe."
Clinton spoke to the MS NOW panel about Israel and achieving peace in the Middle East.
Hillary Clinton Breaks With Democratic Critics By Backing Trump's Gaza Plan As The 'Only Game In Town'
Hillary Clinton said she hated the governments of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an interview on "Morning Joe," Sept. 10, 2026.

#president #Trump #prime

By Alexander Cornwell and Rami Amichay
TEL AVIV/PSAGOT, West Bank, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Israel has given Britain 30 days to close its East Jerusalem consulate in response to sanctions on goods from settlements, a measure Britain's leader said on Wednesday was needed to "stand against injustice" in the occupied West Bank.
In the West ‌Bank, where Israeli settlements have eaten into territory Palestinians seek for a state, settler business owners said the sanctions — announced on Tuesday by Britain, France and Canada — ‌would dent their revenues and at least one said they could force him to close his date farm.
The sanctions are among the strongest collective actions taken by Western countries that Israel once counted as close allies, highlighting its growing isolation over the war in Gaza and expansion of settlements in occupied territory.
ISRAEL SETS DEADLINE FOR BRITAIN TO CLOSE CONSULATE

#britain #sanctions #settlements

Pop star Pink is under fire online for resharing an anti-Israel message and then following it up with a series of Instagram posts directed at her detractors.
Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, supported British musician Ed Sheeran on stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in a show called Loop Tour on September 4 and 5. Donning a keffiyeh in front of an 80,000-strong audience, the rapper shouted "Free Palestine" and addressed Gaza and the occupied West Bank, saying that they are not being forgotten.
"Every human being walking on this earth deserves exactly the same freedom," he added, as reported by Variety.
The rapper then performed his protest song "Hind's Hall," which featured flashes of Gaza on the stadium screens. Macklemore referenced Hind Rajab, a young Palestinian girl killed in Gaza, named after student demonstrators at Columbia University who renamed a campus building in her honor. The rapper then addressed Jewish concertgoers, saying that criticizing Israel and condemning their actions as genocide is not a condemnation of Jewish people and that his message is a message of peace and dignity for everyone.
American pop diva, whose legal name is Alecia Beth Moore Hart, posted a video with the message "Awful" to her Instagram Story, claiming that Jewish fans who came to see Sheeran's performance are exposed to propaganda against Israel. According to Pink, Macklemore's speech and video presentation amount to a false accusation of genocide, and people who came to the concert are entitled to "apologies and refunds."

#Instagram #macklemore

By Emma Farge
GENEVA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - A U.N. expert said on Monday that Israeli clearance of rubble in Gaza could destroy valuable evidence of "atrocity crimes" and prevent the recovery of human remains.
Israel's ****** ault ‌on Gaza — started after the deadly raid into Israel by Hamas in October 2023 — has generated ‌around 61 million tons of wreckage and debris that could take seven years to clear, according to the United Nations.
Francesca Albanese, the U.N. expert on the Palestinian territories, said evidence should be gathered and human remains identified before full clearance started.
She issued a statement headlined: "UN expert warns Israeli rubble-clearing could erase traces of atrocity crimes" and said Palestinians should be behind any plans to remove waste.

#Gaza #rubble #evidence

Pink faced backlash after reposting a statement from an advocacy group calling for an apology from Macklemore for advocating for Palestinians during his opening act for Ed Sheeran in New Jersey.
Pink reposted the message from the group StopAntisemitism on her Instagram stories. The message started with the word "Awful," suggesting that Jewish fans had purchased their tickets to see Sheeran but instead experienced what it referred to as anti-Israel propaganda. According to the group, the Seattle rapper had accused Israel of falsely committing a genocide, and concertgoers were owed an apology and a refund. Pink did not comment and has not yet given a reason for posting the message.
Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, performed for Ed Sheeran in MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sept. 4 and Sept. 5 as part of his Loop Tour. Dressed in a keffiyeh, the rapper told the crowd of more than 80,000 people that he wanted to stand in the stadium and say, "Free Palestine." He mentioned that he hoped people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank knew they had not been forgotten and that every human being deserved freedom.
Macklemore then sang "Hind's Hall," a protest song he released in 2024, as images of Gaza played on the stadium screens. Moreover, the rapper spoke directly to the Jewish audience, saying that criticizing Israel was not criticizing them.
His performance led the Israeli American Council to file a petition asking Sheeran and his management to remove the rapper from other tour dates. The petition referred to his show as a concert and not a rally for activists and politics. It also claimed that Macklemore used his global platform to promote a one-sided political agenda. The petition asked whether the speech and visuals were approved before the event.

#macklemore #sheeran #petition

Taylor Swift was reportedly keeping her distance from Ed Sheeran after a political controversy followed his MetLife Stadium shows. The longtime friends remained close, but an insider claimed Swift wanted to avoid being pulled into Macklemore's Palestine message.
Macklemore, who joined Sheeran's tour as a special guest, called for "Free Palestine" during his set. He also performed "Hind's Hall" while images from Gaza appeared behind him, turning the concert into a political flashpoint.
Rob Shuter revealed on his Substack that Swift was deliberately creating some distance from Sheeran after the performance. A source told his Naughty But Nice column, "Taylor wants no part of this."
"She loves Ed, but she is incredibly careful about what becomes attached to her name," the source continued. "She isn't inheriting somebody else's political controversy because they're friends." The report did not suggest Swift had ended her friendship with Sheeran. Instead, the insider described the move as a matter of protecting her public image.
"This isn't Taylor turning against Ed," the source said. "It's Taylor protecting Taylor. She knows one text, one photograph, one comment can become an international headline."

#taylor #sheeran

TURMUS AYYA, West Bank, Sept 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday ‌said there was no plan to force ‌Palestinians to leave Gaza after two Israeli ministers this week floated proposals for the mass removal of Palestinians from the coastal territory.
• "I can tell you categorically there is no plan of the Israelis to displace people ‌out of Gaza against ⁠their will," Huckabee told reporters in Turmus Ayya, a Palestinian town in the ⁠Israeli-occupied West Bank.
• "There is an open-mindedness (that) if people wish to leave that they should have the right to leave. To incarcerate them in a place they don't ‌want to be should be an absolute, I think, just disgrace," Huckabee said.
• "Nobody is suggesting that there will be forced displacement. The Israelis are not. The Americans are certainly not. I know of ‌no one who supports that."
• Defence Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday said there was "no real solution for Gaza in the ‌end without this migration."

#Israel

CAIRO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - An Israeli strike killed a man and his teenage daughter ‌in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, ‌health officials said.
Mohamed Abu Selmia, head of Al Shifa Hospital, the enclave's largest medical facility, said the airstrike hit a vehicle in western Gaza City, killing Youssef Akila and his daughter, Wafaa, and wounding ‌six others.
The Israeli ⁠military did not immediately comment on the incident.
An October 2025 U.S.-backed ceasefire ⁠halted major fighting in the territory, but it failed to end strikes by the Israeli military, which it said aimed to thwart attacks by ‌Hamas and other Gaza militants.
Hamas accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire and undermining efforts to implement U.S. President Donald Trump's broader plan to end the Gaza conflict, which also includes Israeli ‌withdrawals and Hamas disarmament.

#israeli #hamas #sept #strip

Anti-Israel journalist Rula Jebreal apologized "unconditionally" after calling House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., an "AIPAC monkey" during an interview earlier this week, a remark the Congressional Black Caucus and several Democratic lawmakers condemned as blatantly racist.
The comment came as Jebreal appeared on Wajahat Ali's "The Left Hook" podcast Wednesday and accused Jeffries, who is Black, of carrying out the agenda of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and blasted his support for Israel.
"His name is Hakeem. 'Hakeem' is an Arabic name which means 'healer.' He's not a healer, he's a divider," Jebreal said.
Left-wing Podcaster Blasts Schumer, Jeffries As 'Fascist Collaborators'
Rula Jebreal speaks during a conference on the situation in the Gaza Strip in Parma, Italy, July 3, 2025.

#name

CNN host and former advisor to President Barack Obama Van Jones questioned if Michigan Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed thought he was "smarter than Barack Obama" on foreign policy in fiery comments discussing the "dangerous" beliefs held by many progressive figures in the Democratic Party.
El-Sayed, a vocal critic of Israel and former CNN commentator, has been embroiled in political controversies regarding his stance toward Israel and his relationship with a famous left-wing livestreamer, Hasan Piker.
In late August, Jones appeared on the "Ask Haviv Anything" podcast, where he addressed how the long and historic alliance between Black and Jewish Americans has recently fractured. He went on to criticize El-Sayed over his stance on Israel, saying, "his positions on Israel and foreign policy are insane."
"Look, some Democrats are going to say that we should condition military aid. That, you know, 'Israel's gone too far in Gaza and in the West Bank and in Lebanon. We're going to put some conditions on you.' I think that's a defensible position if you're a Democrat," he said. "That's not Abdul's position."
Van Jones Warns Far-left Socialist Agenda Is 'Regressive' Threat To Democratic Party

#Israel #policy

Ms. Rachel was allegedly confronted by another parent at the park — and their conversation about the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian and Gaza-Israel conflicts apparently left her in tears.
On the Sunday, August 30, episode of the Depends on the Context podcast, host Avi Lichtschein used the entirety of the 14-minute episode to recall their recent interaction.
Lichtschein said the famed YouTube personality (whose real name is Rachel Griffin-Accurso) put her child on the swing next to his child, and the two began talking.
The podcaster asked Ms. Rachel, 43, why she is anti-Israel. He noted that the majority of her social media posts about the war in Gaza claim that there is a "genocide" happening, and Lichtschein said it appears Ms. Rachel has her comments turned off or limited on those posts.
"She immediately pushed back," he said, claiming that Ms. Rachel told him that she is not anti-Israel — but that she is anti-Israeli government and anti-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

#israeli

Kenneth Lonergan has taken a firm stand for Mark Ruffalo amid antisemitism accusations tied to his Israel-Gaza remarks. The Oscar-winning filmmaker and longtime friend of Ruffalo addressed the allegations in a letter to The Hollywood Reporter. He called the antisemitism accusation against Ruffalo "overtly preposterous" and said it was being used to silence his criticism of Israel.
Ruffalo's latest controversy followed his criticism of Oracle founder Larry Ellison and the company's reported ties to Israeli military technology. He also faced backlash from Paramount Skydance after criticizing the proposed Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The company accused him of using antisemitic tropes, but Ruffalo denied it and said he was criticizing political and corporate actions.
Lonergan's relationship with Ruffalo dates back to You Can Count on Me, his 2000 directorial debut starring Laura Linney and Ruffalo. The film was widely praised and marked the beginning of their friendship, which has continued for decades.
Their long friendship led Lonergan to publicly defend the actor. In his letter, he referred to Ruffalo as his "dear friend for thirty years." Lonergan called the antisemitism accusation "a cynical and disgusting lie" and questioned the motives behind it. He wants the Simon Wiesenthal Center to review its response and clarify where it detects any antisemitism.
Lonergan said that attacking Ruffalo personally helps critics avoid addressing his actual arguments. He also acknowledged that he "disagrees profoundly with many of his positions on the Middle East, Israel, Gaza, and Iran's constellation of fanatical Islamic fundamentalist proxies." However, Lonergan said people can disagree with Ruffalo's views without labeling his criticism of Israel as antisemitic.

#ruffalo #friend #letter #accusation

Four days before the 2024 election, Donald Trump declared in Dearborn, Michigan that "the Muslim population" is "liking Trump." On Election Day, the state's Arab Americans helped deliver Trump a victory.
Now, they want nothing to do with him — and are souring on the GOP overall.
Many Detroit-area Arab Americans, who swung hard to Trump over the war in Gaza and cost-of-living issues, are now saying they're fed up with the ongoing war in Iran and slow peace process in Gaza. It's a shift that could have direct consequences on the battle for Senate control, with former Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers fighting to hold onto Trump's 2024 gains against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim whose parents are Egyptian immigrants.
Trump's perceived broken promises — exacerbated by GOP attacks against El-Sayed that some see as Islamophobic and racist — are pushing these voters out of reach for Rogers.
"[Trump] promised to make America great again," said Albert Abbas, who presented a peace prize to Trump during his 2024 Dearborn visit. "Did he do that? Did he put American interests first? It's the complete opposite."

#dearborn #muslim

Iran warned that new U.S. sanctions on Tehran announced Monday would not bring peace to the region. Meanwhile, Israeli and Syrian officials met less than a week after Israeli strikes in Syria. And Israel said it killed a Hamas commander in Gaza.
Here's a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Monday. Full coverage can be found here.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned that Tehran would respond harshly to expanded U.S. sanctions, including measures against countries it sees as cooperating with Washington.
"Any escalation of this situation will undoubtedly bring about consequences," Esmail Baghaei said. "Our hands are not tied."
The new head of Iran's top security body warned Sunday that Tehran will see any country's support for the sanctions as an "act of war."

#warned #Iran #israeli #syria

Hannah Einbinder has come out strongly in defense of Mark Ruffalo as the actor faces an accusation of "antisemitism" from Paramount Skydance over his opposition to the studio's deal for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
Paramount accused Ruffalo of antisemitism after the actor drew links between Larry Ellison's tech giant Oracle and the Israeli military. Larry Ellison is the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison and provided much of the funding that allowed David Ellison's Skydance to merge with Paramount Global in 2025 and is also heavily involved in the financing of Paramount's merger with WBD.
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mk2 Films Launches Sales on Venice Gaza Documentary 'NAZA'
Oscars: South Korea Picks Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love' as Best Int'l Feature Submission

#paramount

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian residents of war-battered Gaza fled homes and businesses as Israeli strikes and tank fire killed at least four people Monday, including two children, hospital officials said, a week after a U.S. delegation asked Israel to draw down attacks.
After evacuation warnings by Israel's military, a strike hit a building in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. One family was unable to flee and a 4-year-old child was killed, according to Awda Hospital, where he was taken. His mother and sister were wounded. There was no Israeli military comment.
Israeli strikes hit three other buildings across the territory after residents said they received evacuation warnings. Some people sprinted away, with mothers carrying children, while others moved amid the rubble in wheelchairs or with canes.
Smoke rose over the already devastated landscape.
Israel's military said it carried out strikes in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City and in Deir al-Balah after issuing warnings, targeting what it described as two Hamas weapons storage facilities inside mosques. The military did not provide evidence but said the facilities contained dozens of "Kalashnikov rifles, magazines and additional military equipment."

#strikes #warnings #balah #hospital

Actor Mark Ruffalo fired back Sunday against accusations of antisemitism over his criticisms of Paramount Skydance's planned merger with Warner Bros., calling the attacks "appalling and fundamentally dishonest."
In a statement posted to social media, Ruffalo referenced Paramount CEO David Ellison and his father Larry, the co-founder of the tech company Oracle.
"This merger has real consequences for real people, and for the entire country. Scrutinizing the Ellisons, including Oracle's business built on data, surveillance technology and government contracts, and the serious threat to editorial freedom and the loss of a livelihood for thousands of families, is fair and necessary," Ruffalo warned.
Ruffalo made the statement after he shared an Instagram post on Friday from the BDS Movement, which advocates boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israel and any companies that profit from its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The post showed former Oracle CEO Safra Catz explaining the Israeli military runs its occupation with the help of "really profoundly scary technology at Oracle."
According to NBC News, Ruffalo's story post said "These 'really profoundly scary technologies' will most likely be merged into one of the largest media conglomerates in the world and one day used on you. Look how [Catz] revels in what we now have come to see as a genocide, which was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle."

#ruffalo #Media

ISTANBUL (AP) — Israel did not warn the United States before it struck an air base in northern Syria this week, despite fears of an escalation with the U.S. and NATO ally Turkey, the U.S. special envoy to Syria said.
Israel usually closely coordinates its military actions with the U.S., its key backer. Washington has tried to use this influence to moderate attacks as Israel carries out operations in Syria, Gaza and Lebanon.
Tom Barrack, who also serves as ambassador to Turkey, said the attack on Tuesday on the Abu Duhur base could have been Israel "baiting the Turks … that was the serious and worrying part."
However, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz contradicted the U.S. envoy's remarks about there being no warning, saying in a statement that Israel decided to alert senior members of the Syrian government. "Simultaneously, we transferred the intelligence reports to the relevant authorities in the U.S.," Katz added.
In the wake of the strikes, which caused damage but no casualties, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the base was attacked because Syria was "on the verge of breaching" an agreement by allowing Turkish troops to deploy there.

#syria

Creative Community for Peace, the Hollywood-based pro-Israel advocacy group, said enough is enough and called for a Mark Ruffalo boycott following his "antisemitic" remarks against the Ellison family and their pending Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
After the Marvel actor's incendiary comments against the deal on Friday — in which he drew a line from David and Larry Ellison's Oracle ties to what he called Israel's "genocide" in Gaza — the long-running entertainment nonprofit called on Hollywood to rescind their support of Ruffalo and his work until he apologizes and retracts his statements.
"Mark Ruffalo's rhetoric has increasingly crossed the line from criticism of Israel into extremist and antisemitic messaging," CCFP Executive Director Ari Ingel said in a statement Saturday.
Ingel added that his argument against Paramount's merger "increasingly fuses hostility toward Israel and Zionism with Jewish-associated wealth, media ownership, oligarchic power and ominous warnings about concentrated control into a single narrative."
"Those echoes are impossible to ignore. Hollywood should not accept this kind of rhetoric from anyone. Mark Ruffalo should retract these remarks and apologize, and ****** ody in Hollywood should platform him until he does."

#mark #ruffalo

Mark Ruffalo is rejecting Paramount's claim that his recent comments highlighting the role Larry Ellison's Oracle played in the Israel-Gaza war were "antisemitic."
"The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest," Ruffalo wrote on X Saturday morning. "Criticizing the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticizing Jewish people. This critical and necessary dialogue is then dishonestly framed as being anti-Israel. To be clear, my views come from my own political convictions and should never be interpreted as hostility toward Jewish people, for whom I have deep love and respect. Everything I know about acting, activism and humanism has been profoundly shaped by the Jewish friends, colleagues and loved ones who have been integral and family throughout every point of my life."
More from The Hollywood Reporter
Mark Ruffalo Links Paramount to Oracle's Israeli Military Ties. The Studio Calls Remarks "Antisemitic"
Gavin Newsom Says Paramount Settlement Talks Happening in "Real Time," Signals He'd Like a Deal

#Israel #paramount

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza make the difficult choice every day between digging into garbage dumps for combustible materials to help cook their meals or crowding around the territory's scarce charity kitchens.
The Kahlout family has tasked their 12-year-old son, Omar, with walking daily to a nearby dump to collect plastic and other material they can use as fuel. He digs with his bare hands and fills a worn-out sack, then carries it back to the tent where he lives with his family of eight.
They live close to the dump. Rats swarm their tent. This is life for many of Gaza's 2 million Palestinians who still languish in displacement camps and war-ravaged buildings, 10 months after a fragile ceasefire was reached between Israel and the Hamas militant group.
Families expressed doubt on the progress of talks that aim to end the war. "The truce is only in the media," said Omar's father, Adam. He said the family survives on food from humanitarian aid packages and charity kitchens.
And yet Palestinians say the food at the kitchens is not enough. Each family is allowed one piece of fish with rice. May people leave with their pots empty, even as Israel's government has said it is allowing enough food into the territory that remains largely cut off from the world.

#palestinians #dump #enough #deir

CAIRO (AP) — Palestinians face inflated prices for groceries and batteries, hospitals have turned to smugglers for medicine and equipment, Israeli soldiers and other middlemen are accused of pocketing millions of dollars, and the Hamas-led government takes a cut as the smuggling of goods restricted by Israel into the Gaza Strip has boomed, according to an ******* ociated Press investigation based on court documents and interviews with traders, truckers and officials.
Cigarettes and tobacco — banned from entry to Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023 — rake in the biggest profits for smugglers and merchants, officials and residents say. But everything from iPhones and solar panels to fuel and anesthetics are also brought into the tiny coastal territory illegally. Israel restricts quantities of some goods and bans others outright. It defines many as "dual use" — including concrete, vehicle parts and X-ray machines — ******* erting they could be repurposed by Hamas militants for military functions.
To build a picture of the illicit trade, The ******* ociated Press ******* yzed Israeli court documents and spoke to five major traders who import smuggled goods, three merchants who sell them, and two truckers — all on condition of anonymity because of their roles in the illegal smuggling business and concerns about their safety in Gaza. AP also interviewed four Palestinian officials, two on condition of anonymity because of worries about retribution from Israel, Hamas or merchants; two U.N. officials, on condition of anonymity over concern for their jobs; and a dozen Palestinian residents, who spoke about how they get everyday items and their skyrocketing costs.
AP found a rush from all sides to profit off the tight restrictions imposed by Israel on Gaza and its 2 million residents, most of whom have been displaced by the war. Smuggling rings — which have long flourished, circumventing two decades of Israeli blockades and building a network of businessmen and collaborators — pull in millions of dollars. Payoffs go to Israeli troops, drivers, warehouse workers and others on both sides of the border, according to traders and court documents.
"The occupation has left no other option before us. Smuggling has become routine," one trader said, noting that some in Israel's military are willing to help — for a price. "We benefit, they benefit and the people in Gaza benefit because we provide goods, including food, to the market."

#israeli #smuggling

U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner delivered a stark ultimatum to Hamas on Monday, warning that the terrorist group must honor its commitments to disarm in Gaza or face an Israeli military operation to "finish the job."
Speaking exclusively to Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst, Kushner also detailed high-stakes diplomatic meetings in Egypt and Israel over the last 48 hours aimed at advancing President Donald Trump's Gaza peace roadmap as fighting and disagreements between Israel and Hamas persists.
Israel has carried out air strikes and seized more territory in Gaza despite an October ceasefire, while Hamas has refused to give up its weapons, Reuters also reported Monday.
Kushner met first with Hamas in Cairo, together with the National Committee, the new technocratic Palestinian government that will take over control.
Hillary Clinton Breaks With Democratic Critics By Backing Trump's Gaza Plan As The 'Only Game In Town'

#trey