Wide support for campaign against Hollywood’s support of Israel army

An online campaign against Hollywood stars’ support of the Israeli army has been launched this week.

VPalestine Team – the organisation behind the campaign – coined the hashtag #HollywoodFundsTerror on Twitter to denounce Hollywood stars’ support of the Israeli army and their raising of $60 million during a ceremony in New York.

Others wrote to a number of celebrities on their social media pages asking them to stop supporting the Israeli army due to its involvement in war crimes, as well as illegal and inhumane acts.

فريق "VPalestine" يدعو للتغريد على هاشتاغ #HollywoodFundsTerror مساء اليوم تنديداً بدعم نجوم من "هوليود" جيش الاحتلال الإسرائيلي بمبلغ 60 مليون دولار خلال احتفال في نيويورك. pic.twitter.com/OZp4Egq0qe

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) November 7, 2018

https://twitter.com/Palestinianspe1/status/1060249596893499392?s=20

The Friends of the Israel Defence Forces (FIDF) held its annual conference at one of California’s prestigious hotels in Beverly Hills last week, with the participation of 1,200 famous personalities, including actors, singers, artists, athletes and well-known figures in the field of technology and fashion.

The most prominent celebrities who participated in the ceremony were Ashton Kutcher, Pharrell Williams, Gerard Butler, Katharine McPhee, Andy Garcia, Fran Drescher and Robert Horry.

READ: US asked Jordan to stop supporting Palestinian cause

The conference raised nearly $60 million in donations for the Israeli army, the largest amount raised in a single day since FIDF’s establishment in 1981. The organisation raised $6 million last year, marking a 10-fold increase this year. The donations will be given to Israeli army soldiers and their families and used for academic scholarships for veterans.

The fundraising sparked a backlash on Twitter, with one US-based Twitter user “Yukamama” saying:

We pay $11m a day to #Israel as a taxpayer while 49M Americans starve here so that #Palestine unarmed children can continue to be shot in #Gaza and $60m more support from Hollywood stars for Israel army. Disappointed.

The move also sparked anger among Palestinian, Arab and international Twitter users who support the Palestinian cause and reject the Israeli occupation. Quds News Network observed a number of Twitter posts rejecting Hollywood stars’ support of the Israeli army using the #HollywoodFundsTerror hashtag.

The tweets indicated a wide rejection of the Israeli occupation’s crimes, including its massacre of Great March of Return protesters in the besieged Gaza Strip that have led to the killing of at least 220 civilians and caused 24,000 injuries since the protests began on 30 March.

READ: Dozens injured in 33rd week of Gaza protests

3h/d electricity,no clean water,no jobs,no medical treatment,no fuels,hunger,buzzing dromes,bombs,still people were dancing on "Happy" and yet Pharrell betrays his fans, playing #apartheid https://t.co/VS5FzxFy8Z #HollywoodFundsTerror #BDS #Rights4Palestine #Gaza #Happy

— Maya Devi (@Da1Maya) November 8, 2018

Thumbs up to the mass slaughter of the innocents @GerardButler You disgust me. #IOF #Gaza #Palestine #Celtic #Hollywood #HollywoodFundsTerror pic.twitter.com/oCXkKKlR0Z

— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) November 9, 2018

Hollywood stars raise millions in support of the Israeli occupation army!#HollywoodFundsTerror #HollywoodFundTerror #IsraeliCrimes #IDF #FIDF pic.twitter.com/ppTj60W4u8

— Roya News English (@RoyaNewsEnglish) November 8, 2018

Their movies must be banned from all Arabic TV channels #HollywoodFundsTerror

https://twitter.com/NadaTamimi2/status/1060240387250491392

https://twitter.com/NadaTamimi2/status/1060239740568551424?s=20

https://twitter.com/dinjarie/status/1060292222791241728?s=20