'This war must end': Jewish actor Ben Stiller speaks out on Israel-Hamas war
Actor Ben Stiller attends the 75th Annual Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards in Beverly Hills, California, U.S. February 18, 2023.
Jewish Zoolander actor Ben Stiller, in an opinion piece published by TIME magazine on Thursday, wrote about his perceptions on the need to take a nuanced stance on the Israel-Hamas/Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the global rise of antisemitism, and his desire for Palestinian statehood.
Stiller explained that he felt obligated to speak out as a public advocate for refugees - and explained his reservations in commenting earlier.
“How does one express the complicated and very real feelings in this scary world of social media, where it seems any sentiment opens you to online vitriol from one side or another?” Stiller asked. “The issues we are dealing with are so nuanced and complicated that short statements cannot in any way express fully what I want to say from my heart.”
Ben Stiller on the Israel-Hamas war
“Like so many Jews,” Stiller wrote, he “grieve[d] for those who suffered in the barbaric Hamas attack on October 7 and for those who have suffered as a result of those atrocities.”
Hamas’s attacks on southern Israel saw the murder of over 1200 people and the abduction of over 250 more.
A view of an Israeli flag and other belongings inside a burnt house that has been abandoned for two months after the deadly October 7 attack by gunmen from Palestinian militant group Hamas from the Gaza Strip, in Kibbutz Beeri, southern Israel, December 7, 2023. (credit: ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA / REUTERS)
A view of an Israeli flag and other belongings inside a burnt house that has been abandoned for two months after the deadly October 7 attack by gunmen from Palestinian militant group Hamas from the Gaza Strip, in Kibbutz Beeri, southern Israel, December 7, 2023. (credit: ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA / REUTERS)
“My heart aches for the families who lost loved ones to this heinous act of terrorism and for those anxiously waiting these long months for the return of the hostages still in captivity,” he wrote. He did not comment on the Israeli communities still subjected to daily rocket fire from Hamas and other Islamic terrorist groups that form the Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance.”
While Stiller wrote that while he grieved for the people of Israel, he also asserted that he “also grieve[d] for the innocent people in Gaza who have lost their lives in this conflict and those suffering through that awful reality now.”
Defending the need for Israel to eradicate Hamas, one of Israel's stated purposes for the war in Gaza, Stiller wrote, “I detest war, but what Hamas did was unconscionable and reprehensible. The hostages have to be freed. Terrorism must be named and fought by all people of conscience on the planet. There is no excuse for it under any circumstances."
“I stand with the Israeli people and their right to live in peace and safety,” he added
Despite defending Israel’s motives in the war, Stiller explained he did not support all the decisions on how the war has been conducted.
Speaking on the impact of the war on Palestinian civilians, which has been repeatedly referred to as a “humanitarian crisis” by the United Nations and numerous world leaders, Stiller wrote, “ I want the violence to end, and the innocent Palestinian people affected by the humanitarian crisis that has resulted to receive the lifesaving aid they need. And I know that many in Israel share this sentiment.”
Stiller’s solution for the conflict
Stiller strongly advocated for a two-state solution, which would see an independent Palestinian state established alongside Israel.
“I believe, as many people in Israel and around the world do, in the need for a two-state solution, one that ensures that the Israeli people can live in peace and safety alongside a homeland for the Palestinian people that provides them the same benefits,” he wrote.
While Western nations have repeatedly begun recognizing Palestinian statehood and calling for the establishment of a two-state solution to the conflict, concerns have been raised as to whether Palestinians would accept such a solution.
The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that, in December, the percentage of Palestinians in support of two states stood at only 35%. The percentage grew to 62% in March as the war in Gaza continued.
Work in advocacy
Stiller is descended from refugees, which contributes to his drive to involve himself in humanitarian issues. He wrote of how his paternal grandmother arrived in the US as a refugee from Poland during the Holocaust and how his maternal grandparents migrated to New York from Ireland in search of a better life.
Stiller noted he worked alongside the United Nations to visit “refugees and those impacted by war and violence in Lebanon, Guatemala, Jordan, Poland, and Ukraine.”
His extensive work on behalf of refugees included advocating for refugees “at the UN and in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, imploring the [US] government not to look away from this global humanitarian crisis.”
Antisemitism increases globally
Stiller denounced antisemitism, which increased globally after Hamas’s attacks and the start of the war. Reflecting on the situation, Stiller wrote that he saw a “troubling conflation in criticism of the actions of the Israeli government with denunciations of all Israelis and Jewish people. And as a result, we are seeing an undeniable rise in global antisemitism. I am seeing it myself, on the streets of the city I grew up in. It isn’t right and must be denounced.
“Antisemitism must be condemned whenever it happens and wherever it exists. As should Islamophobia and bigotry of all kinds. There is a frightening amnesia for history in the air. We must remind ourselves that we can only manifest a more hopeful, just, and peaceful future by learning from the past.”
He concluded the piece by writing that the war against Hamas “must end” and “The human suffering must end. We must demand this of our leaders. Peace is the only path.”