On Tuesday, actress Natalie Portman opened a crowdfunding campaign on her 8.8 million strong Instagram account for children of families from the Gaza border area.
Read more:
The Hollywood darling has never been known to shy away from her Judaism. As an undergraduate at Harvard, she worked on a prominent book defending the Jewish state against its critics. She speaks fluent Hebrew and in 2015 she wrote, directed, and starred in a Hebrew-language adaptation of Israeli author Amos Oz's memoir. What's more, she and her ex-husband, Benjamin Millepied, got married in a Jewish ceremony.
Portman publicized information about Dror Israel (Israel's Freedom), a social, educational and collaborative initiative, which provides assistance and support for children from the communities in the Gaza border area, and to children whose i parents to belong to search and rescue teams, who leave their children at home for many hours to go treat those in need.
Calling for the release of the hostages being held in Gaza, Portman wrote: "Dear International Red Cross, We, the undersigned, express our profound concerns regarding the current atrocities perpetrated by Hamas and other terrorist organizations within Israel. We respectfully urge the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to act in accordance to its mandate to prevent the ongoing breaches of International Humanitarian Law (IHL)."
While Portman embraces her Judaism, that courtesy does not extend to the Israeli government, freuquently the focus for much of her criticism. The war, however, made the focus understandably shift to solidarity rather than political strife. Her Instagram now includes a video post in which numerous children stand with a sign reading "Free Israeli Children," accompanied with a caption that reads "Dozens of children are being held captive by the terrorists of Hamas in Gaza, they are frightened and helpless."
In a different post, in which comments have been disabled, she wrote: "My heart is shattered for the people of Israel. Children, women and the elderly have been murdered and abducted from their own homes. I am in horror of these barbaric acts and my heart is pounding with love and prayer of the families of all affected."
