Noah Schnapp breaks silence on backlash to his “misconstrued” views on Israel-Hamas war
Noah Schnapp has spoken out about the backlash to his stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, stating that his views have been “misconstrued”.
The Stranger Things actor, who is Jewish, was criticised online last year after he was seen in a video promoting stickers labelled “Zionism is sexy” and “Hamas is ISIS”.
In a video posted on TikTok on Monday (January 15), Schnapp addressed “everything that’s been going on online” since the clip emerged.
“I feel like my thoughts and beliefs have been so far misconstrued from anything even close to what I believe, and I wanted to just state from my heart how I feel,” Schnapp said. “I only want peace and safety and security for all innocent people affected by this conflict.
“I’ve had many open discussions with friends from Palestinian background, and I think those are very important conversations to have and I’ve learned a lot. One of the takeaways I’ve had is that we all hope for the same things, that being those innocent people still being held hostage in Gaza to be returned to their families, and equally hope for an end to the loss of innocent life in Palestine – so many of those being women and children, and it’s horrible to see.”
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Schnapp added: “I think anyone with any ounce of humanity would hope for an end to the hostility on both sides. I stand against any killing of any innocent people and I hope you guys all do, too. And I just hope to one day see those two groups be able to live harmoniously together in that region.
“And I hope for 2024 online to see people be a little more understanding and compassionate and recognise that we’re all human, regardless of our race, of our ethnicity, of our background, of our country of birth, even our sexuality, of anything. We are all human and we’re all the same and we should all love each other for that and support each other and stand together. And stand together for humanity and for peace.”
Schnapp previously posted a statement (October 11) where he called for “peace for both Palestinians and Israelis” following the October 7 attack by Hamas militants, which killed around 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers.
While he said Hamas “don’t represent the Palestinian people”, he concluded: “You either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism. It shouldn’t be a difficult choice. Shame on you.”
The actor is currently filming the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, which officially resumed production on January 8 following the Hollywood strikes.
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Adam Starkey
NME
