As Israel carries out a military offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas’ deadly terror attacks, actor Riz Ahmed made an emotional plea to stop the violence and be “on the side of humanity.”
In a message posted to social media, the British actor said: “As storytellers we put ourselves in other people’s shoes and ask audiences to go on that journey with us. The reason this works is because underneath our differences, we feel the same fear, joy, grief, and hope.”
Those stories “work because there is no ‘us’ and ‘them’. There is only us,” Ahmed continued. “Any story that says otherwise, that some people aren’t like us, aren’t human, is a lie.”
The actor noted that he believes there are no two sides in the Israel-Gaza conflict, only “the side of our humanity.”
Ahmed, who was born in a London suburb to Pakistani immigrant parents, condemned the deadly Hamas attack in Israel as “horrific and wrong.” The actor also noted that “What’s happening in Gaza now, and has been happening in Palestine under the Occupation for decades, is horrific and wrong.”
On Oct. 7, Hamas launched an attack on Israel, invading the country and killing more than 1,400 people. Since then Israel has launched a military offensive, consistently sending air strikes into Gaza, killing over 2,300 Palestinians.
“If we only look in one direction, we will go even keeping into darkness,” Ahmed wrote. “But that is exactly what is happening right now.”
“We are being asked to look away while the civilians of Gaza, half of them children, are running out of time,” the actor continued.
Ahmed said: “If we are on the side of humanity we must urgently speak up to try and avert the loss of innocent life. This means calling for an end to the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza’s civilians and vital infrastructure, the denial of food. water, and electricity, and the forced displacement of people from their homes. These are morally indefensible war crimes.”
Read the full statement below:
