Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Alia Bhatt
Indian celebrities expressed solidarity with Palestinians as Israel pounded the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The phrase ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ went viral after Israeli air strikes set fire in a refugee camp in Rafah, killing over 40 civilians including children and injuring dozens last Sunday. Fresh air strikes were also reported earlier this week.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on May 24 ordered Israel to halt its military operations in Rafah.
Bollywood actors like Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Varun Dhawan, Tripti Dimrii, Richa Chadha, Dia Mirza and others showed support for the Palestinian people by trending the popular phrase on their social media. From the southern film industries, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Trisha, Dulquer Salmaan, Rashmika Mandanna and others also posted the phrase condemning the attack.
Re-sharing a post by the Instagram page ‘the motherhood home’, Alia Bhatt wrote #AllEyesOnRafah.”
Priyanka Chopra also shared the ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ template on her Instagram stories. The actor is a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
Demanding an immediate ceasefire and calling attention to Israeli war crimes, Richa Chadha wrote on X, “The state of Israel is committing settler colonial genocide on the starving, dehydrated, entrapped population of Gaza. This is the cold-blooded murder of babies, women, pregnant women, innocent civilians, journalists, medical aid workers and doctors. This is genocide, there is no other word for it, and it must be condemned in unequivocal terms. If the world just watches, the world is complicit. Ceasefire now! Decolonize now!”
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that a “tragic mistake” had been made after an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza city of Rafah set fire to a tent camp housing displaced Palestinians and killed at least 45 people, according to local officials.
(with AP inputs)
