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Gal Gadot condemns Hamas attack, says she never imagined people would celebrate a massacre of Jews, calls for an end to hate.
Gal Gadot condemns Hamas attack.
Israel-born actor Gal Gadot recently addressed the rising hostility towards Jewish people while speaking at the Anti-Defamation League’s International Leadership Awards. Honoured for her unwavering support for Israel, the Wonder Woman star delivered a powerful speech about the fear and challenges Jews face worldwide, especially after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
“As we all know, hatred, intolerance, and bigotry are on the rise. Most of us will never have experienced a worse time for antisemitism in our lifetimes, but we should feel safer knowing that the ADL has our backs,” she said.
Gal spoke about how alarming it feels to simply acknowledge her identity. “My name is Gal, and I’m Jewish. Isn’t it crazy that just saying that [I’m Jewish], just expressing such a simple fact about who I am, feels like a controversial statement?” she stated.
The actress admitted that antisemitism was never a major concern in her life until the October 7 attack, calling it a wake-up call. “I’m Israeli, of course, and I knew that antisemitism and anti-Israel hate existed. And like all of us, sometimes I’d caught a whiff of it. But I never thought of myself as being where I came from. It was an aspect of who I am, but it didn’t define me,” she explained.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a large-scale attack on Israel, firing thousands of rockets and infiltrating Israeli towns and military bases, leading to the deadliest day in Israel’s history.
“Never did I imagine that we would witness a day of such death and destruction of Jews in our lifetime. And never did I imagine that on the streets of the United States and different cities around the world, we would see people not condemning Hamas, but celebrating, justifying, and cheering on a massacre of Jews,” Gal said.
She stressed that the impact of these events extends beyond borders. “October 7th showed us that what happens to Jews anywhere affects Jews everywhere. Not only what happens there affects us here, but what happens here affects them there. So here we are in this room together, calling for the release of every single one of our hostages,” she stated.
Gal acknowledged that many Jewish individuals, regardless of their profession, now find it “deeply unsettling” to speak up. “This has been a reality for all of us, regardless of our field or profession, including mine.”
“But we can’t just wait, hoping for support from those who have no intention of standing with us,” she said. “We need to stand up for ourselves.”
- Location :
Los Angeles, United States of America (USA)
