Mark Ruffalo: "Gaza is a Crime against Humanity"

Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo has cemented his reputation as a rabid critic of Israel, relentlessly championing Palestinian causes while spewing vitriol that many Jews and pro-Israel advocates denounce as thinly veiled antisemitism. His selective outrage, which fixates on Gaza’s suffering while ignoring Hamas’ terrorism, has sparked a firestorm of criticism, with detractors accusing him of stoking anti-Jewish hatred under the guise of humanitarianism.

Ruffalo’s social media and public statements are a masterclass in lopsided activism. In May 2024, he painted Israel as a monstrous oppressor, accusing it of forcing Palestinians to “die in the desert or die in your homes” as Rafah residents faced displacement. His August 2024 *Los Angeles Times* op-ed demanded a U.S. arms embargo on Israel, conveniently sidestepping Hamas’s role in initiating violence with the October 7, 2023, massacre that killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 hostages. Even after the brutal murder of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ruffalo’s September 7, 2024, post blamed U.S. and Israeli policies, only mentioning the victim’s 330-day captivity as an afterthought. Such omissions betray a callous disregard for Israeli lives.

His rhetoric has a history of inflammatory excess. In 2020, Ruffalo branded Israel’s policies a “kind of apartheid” on NBC, a term he doubled down on despite its loaded implications. In 2021, he briefly apologized for accusing Israel of “genocide” during Gaza clashes, admitting the term was “inaccurate, inflammatory, disrespectful” and fueled antisemitic attacks globally, including synagogue vandalism and assaults in U.S. cities. Yet, this mea culpa was short-lived; Ruffalo resumed his anti-Israel crusade, signing letters condemning Israel’s actions while rarely uttering a word against Hamas’s rocket barrages or suicide bombings. A *Jerusalem Post* piece from November 2022 slammed him as a non-Jew presuming to redefine antisemitism, particularly after he endorsed an article questioning the IHRA definition, which he framed as a shield for Israel’s “crimes.”

Ruffalo’s defenders praise his courage in defying Hollywood’s pressures to stand with Palestine, hailing his focus on Gaza’s “man-made” famine. But this narrative conveniently ignores Hamas’s diversion of aid to build tunnels and weapons, a fact Ruffalo scarcely acknowledges. His alignment with groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, which critics argue whitewashes anti-Israel extremism, only deepens suspicions of bias. On Reddit’s r/Jewish, users have branded him a “rabid antisemite,” pointing to his near-decade-long pattern of demonizing Israel while giving Hamas a free pass.

Why does Ruffalo obsess over Palestinian suffering yet remain silent on Hamas’s atrocities? His progressive lens, shaped by advocacy for causes like climate change, seems to cast Israel as the sole villain in an “asymmetrical” conflict, a view he admitted in 2020 was informed by Palestinian narratives. This one-sidedness blinds him to Israel’s security dilemmas, from rocket attacks to terrorist infiltrations, which he dismisses or ignores. His selective grief, lavishing sympathy on Gazans while barely acknowledging Israeli victims, feeds accusations that his activism crosses into antisemitism, especially as global antisemitic incidents spike during Israel-Hamas war.

For an actor who thrives on moral grandstanding, Ruffalo’s failure to confront the full complexity of the conflict reveals a hypocrisy that no amount of Hollywood charisma can mask.

And if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: Just because you are a popular and / talented actor, doesn't make you any sort of an expert authority on the Middle East. So keep doing what you're good at and avoid making yourself look stupid by discussing things you have no idea about.