ZIGGY MARLEY SPARKS OUTRAGE WITH PRO-ISRAEL LETTER AS GAZA SUFFERS
Ziggy Marley, the son of reggae legend Bob Marley and father of Jewish children, has sparked outrage for signing an open letter in support of Israel in the ongoing conflict with Gaza that has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 Palestinians, half of whom are children.
Israel has been launching airstrikes on Gaza for over a week, in response to rocket attacks from Hamas, the militant group that controls the enclave. The bombardment has caused widespread destruction and civilian casualties in Gaza, as documented by residents and journalists on the ground. However, despite the humanitarian crisis, more than 700 Hollywood celebrities have expressed their solidarity with Israel in an open letter initiated by Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), an organization that aims to use the influence of entertainment industry figures to promote a positive image of Israel abroad. The letter urged other Hollywood members "to speak out forcefully against Hamas, to support Israel, to refrain from sharing misinformation about the war, and do whatever is in their power to urge the terrorist organization to return the innocent hostages to their families".
The letter was published on October 12, before the situation escalated and the United States intervened and the massive loss of life became evident.
Ziggy's label, which is run by his wife Orly Agai Marley, who is Israeli of Iranian-Jewish descent, previously posted a statement that seemed to take a neutral stance on the issue.
"It is absolutely reasonable and logical to be opposed to the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians while simultaneously calling for the protection of Jews in Israel and around the world. Hamas is a terrorist organization that is attacking civilians by land, air and sea. The images of kidnapped Israelis are shocking and devastating. Given the thousands of years of persecution of Jews, please know that your Jewish friends – even if they are not in Israel – are hurting and are fearful when things like this happen and non-Jews are silent. I understand many of us are afraid to voice an opinion because the crisis there is so nuanced and hard to understand, and are afraid of saying the wrong thing. But we can – and must- always use our voices to denounce terrorism and the senseless murder of civilians." The label posted on its social media account.
Ziggy has since updated his position, seemingly acknowledging the loss of life caused by Israel. On Sunday, he shared a poster that read, "To whom it may concern: Civilian lives matter, innocent lives matter, children lives matter."
In another post, Ziggy Marley tried to explain his previous statements, while also disabling the comments on the post. "If you have time think, i ask who really profit from never ending wars and conflicts The wickeds , the devils. For its business model to work it needs to continually incentivize, foment and educate hatred and fear between tribes and peoples," he wrote. "You can pick a reason for there are many to SELF justify any action," Ziggy Marley continued. "Thats the genius of it’s game. Give human beings a reason to commit the worst acts on eachother and human beings will. They say it’s in our nature and we cannot evolve past it or resist its wicked pull. For some of them money is the payoff for others it’s power for the devil it’s human blood and it doesn’t matter who’s or from which side it doesn’t matter whatsoever . Human beings are the victims of it’s sinister game some willing some unwilling and most caught in the middle. Sounds crazy right?
He has since closed off his comments section due to backlash.