Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp has released a statement via a TikTok on Monday to clarify his stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict two months after he received backlash for a video in which he showed his open support of Zionism.
In the almost two-minute video, Schnapp explained how he believed his thoughts and beliefs have been “so far misconstrued from anything even close to what I believe, and I wanted to just state from my heart how I feel.”
“I only want peace, and safety, and security for all innocent people affected by this conflict,” he stated.
“I’ve had many open discussions with friends from Palestinian backgrounds and I think those are very important conversations to have. I’ve learned a lot and one of the takeaways I’ve had is that we all hope for the same things. That being, innocent people still being held hostage in Gaza to be returned to their families and equally hope for an end to the loss of innocent lives in Palestine, so many of those people being women and children. It’s horrible to see.”
“I think anyone with any ounce of humanity would hope for an end to the hostility on both sides,” he said, condemning the killing of any innocent people.
“I just hope to one day see those two groups be able to live harmoniously together in that region, and I hope for 2024 online to see people be a little more understanding and compassionate and recognize that we’re all human regardless of our race, of our ethnicity, of our background, of our country of birth, even our sexualities, of anything.
“We are all human, and we’re all the same, and we should all love each other for that and support each other and stand together. And Stand together for humanity and for peace.”
Schnapp had previously spoken out about the conflict in a now-deleted post on Instagram in October 2023 after Israel declared a state of emergency. According to Variety, he posted a statement to Instagram which slammed his followers for commenting on his post in celebration of Hamas’ attacks in October.
“As a Jewish American, I am afraid,” he wrote on IG, per Variety.
“Afraid for my brothers and sisters in Israel, who have been senselessly attacked by Hamas. I am truly heartbroken to see the brutal murders of innocent children, women and soldiers fighting to defend themselves. I, like others, want peace for both Palestinians and Israelis. Let’s stop the rhetoric and choosing sides. Instead, we must recognize that we are all on the side of the fight against terrorism. Choose humanity over violence.”
Along with general anti-war sentiments, he went on to condemn Hamas.
“I hope we can agree that Hamas are a recognised terrorist organization: they don’t represent the Palestinian people when they value murdering Israelis more than protecting their own,” Schnapp wrote.
“You either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism. It shouldn’t be a difficult choice. Shame on you.”
Oooft. Pretty huge to label a Palestinian people who don’t want to see their own families and friends get slaughtered as “terrorists”, hey?
In case you missed it, the real backlash against Noah Schnapp began back in November 2023, Schnapp was called out after he was spotted in a video being circulated online where he can be seen filming his friends posing with stickers that read “Zionism is Sexy” and “Hamas is Isis”.
The jokey nature of the video, which can be seen below, naturally pissed a lot of people off.
On its own, Schnapp’s anti-war sentiment is nice. No one likes war. Clearly, it should be condemned.
But this message doesn’t live in a vacuum.
Schnapp has used his platform multiple times to incite hateful messages against Palestine. I sincerely hope that since then, he really has tried to learn more about he conflict and realise the impact his platform and voice can have. It’s just a shame that it took the deaths of more than 23,000 people, and almost 60,000 wounded for him to release this statement.
It’s also worth noting that the fifth and final season of Stranger Things has just begun filming. Interesting timing for Schnapp’s anti-war statement, in my opinion.
