Comedian and actress Amy Schumer is receiving pushback from fans for her strong pro-Israel stance and says she has lost friends because of it but is speaking out because she wants the hostages released and peace in the region.
Schumer, who is Jewish, has been outspoken in her support for Israel since Hamas attacked the Jewish state on Oct. 7 and killed more than 1,400 while taking 200-plus hostage.
“I’m sad to have lost so many friends these last few weeks but feel powerful and free knowing I stand for the truth and will fight for it always,” she wrote on Instagram Tuesday. “I’m a proud Jewish Woman and have every right to be. Head high. Spirits high. Love to my fellow brothers and sisters.”
Schumer has 13.1 million followers on Instagram and has not been silent about her position, regularly posting comments in support of Israel while calling Hamas terrorists. Facing pushback and hate, she closed her comments before reopening them on Nov. 1.
“What I want is EVERY HOSTAGE BACK,” she wrote in her latest post. “I want safety and freedom from Hamas for Palestinians and Israelis. I want safety for Jewish people and Muslims as well. Everyone. Just like you. I want peace. You will never see me wishing harm on anyone. Saying I'm Islamophobic or that I like genocide is crazy.”
She concluded, “We are all in a lot of pain. What hurts the most is that we all actually love each other. You hate Jews. You don't know why. I still love you.”
On Oct. 30, she posted a video criticizing the pro-Palestinian chant “from the river to the sea.” The same day, she posted a video of Martin Luther King Jr. saying Israel “has the right to exist” and is one of the “great outposts of democracy in the world.”
On Oct. 28, she posted a graphic supporting a ceasefire but said before that happens, Hamas must free the hostages, stop all rocket fire, and fully surrender. On Oct. 27, she pleaded with her fans, “Please don’t erase my family like they did to the people I am descended from.”
On Oct. 29, she asserted that backers of Hamas are “aligning with terrorists who pledge to kill every last Jew” on Earth and “to destroy all free society.”
Schumer also testified of her Jewish experience as a child.
“As a child, I grew up with Uncle Alex, numbers from Auschwitz burned into his forearm. Attending Hebrew school, reading endless books about the holocaust as all Jewish children do. Learning of the world's confusing hatred for us. Was ridiculed for being Jewish by the students and parents alike,” she wrote on Oct. 13. “... I'm not laughing anymore or being quiet anymore. I'm proud to be descended from a population they have tried to exterminate over and over again for thousands of years.”
She added, “I am Jewish. I am proud. My heart breaks for Israel. It breaks for the innocent people of Gaza too. I love my Palestinian brothers and sisters. Palestinians are not Hamas, who want only to exterminate the 16 million of us left. … Reach out to your Jewish and Palestinian friends. Love Amy.”
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Jamie McCarthy / Staff
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
