‘Wonder Woman’ Actress Gal Gadot Accused Of Spreading “Zionist Propaganda” After Organizing Hollywood Screening Of Pro-Israel Short Film
JB Augustine
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Israeli actress Gal Gadot is courting controversy for her support of her country and its armed forces amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip. The backlash began when she organized a screening for a 47-minute film supplied by the nation’s Defense Force (IDF) that is mobilizing in the region.
The Jerusalem Post reports, however, that Gadot did not attend the event she helped organize.
According to Newsweek, Gadot “helped arrange [the screening for] the 47-minute Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) documentary Bearing Witness, which features graphic footage from the October 7 surprise attack… [resulting] in a mass brawl between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protestors outside Los Angeles’ Museum of Tolerance on Wednesday night.”
On October 7th, armed Hamas militants flew into a music festival, claiming lives and taking hostages. An invasion and heavy bombing of Gaza followed along with calls for releasing hostages and urgings for a ceasefire by lawmakers and activists. The Israeli government is not heeding these requests, and demonstrations in support of the Palestinians are reoccurring in cities around the world. Pro-Israel rallies pop up as well, often erupting in clashes between the two sides like the one in LA.
The backlash against Gadot grew as scenes in Wonder Woman 1984 are being viewed in a new light. Newsweek’s coverage continued as it noted, “Gadot, who plays the title character in the Wonder Woman film series, was called out on social media over the Bearing Witness controversy and for alleged ‘anti-Arab’ content in the 2020 Wonder Woman sequel.”
The content concerned is at the point in the film when Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) chase Max Lord (Pedro Pascal) to an oil-rich Middle Eastern country. A wall comes up out of the ground to keep a rival group out of the land, and then a desert highway chase ensues after Max takes the local dictator’s private army.
Live rounds are exchanged that endanger civilians, including children playing on the side of the road. One piece of artillery employed is an RPG Diana redirects at her adversaries. The scene “shows her character using a missile to save Arab children by propelling herself towards them with the weapon just before they were about to be hit by a vehicle.”
This part of WW84 is being called out on social media as “Zionist propaganda” and anti-Arab. “She [Gadot] already helped make Zionist propaganda, it’s called Wonder Woman 1984,” went one post.
“In case anybody wondered, yes, Gal Gadot just straight-up screened a military’s propaganda video in support of an ongoing genocide to influencers,” said another.
The user continued, “Not that that’s surprising. Remember the ‘use missiles to save Arab kids’ scene in WW84? She’s been a violence-apologist forever.”
“NO,” prefaced yet another disgruntled X user, adding, “GAL GADOT THEY’RE ONLY CHILDREN PLEASE STOP,” and sharing a screenshot of the aforementioned scene from Wonder Woman 1984.
“Ay- whoever is following me in or og Hollywood- please don’t go watch this murderous propaganda and please dont lend your image to it by showing up,” another encouraged.
Blatantly labelling Gadot as a “Zionist” and accusing the actress of advocating for genocide, @LoneRedRanger wrote, “I don’t ever wanna see anyone comparing Gal Gadot to Angelina Jolie ever again.”
“These women are miles apart- one user her platform to raise awareness for the minorities suffering from atrocities, while the other advocates for genocide,” the user added, concluding, “btw, this is what a Zionist looks like.”
Targeting Gadot’s acting skills, another user declared, “Gal Gadot has been an assault on movie screens for years now so this makes perfect sense.”
“We only acknowledge one ‘Wonder Woman’ & it is certainly not Gal Gadot,” said another user, sharing a gif of former Wonder Woman actress Lynda Carter.
Newsweek mentioned another point where the dictator scorned “heathens” for living in his ancestral homeland. “Criticism over the Israeli military’s response to the Hamas attack has recently been ramping up as the death toll in Gaza grows,” their report added.
Gadot’s tenure as Wonder Woman is probably over, but whether or not the flak against her public stances in this case is a factor is not clear.
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