War is never a good thing for the people that suffer from it first hand.
The physical consequences of war include in injury, illness, malnutrition, disability and death. Civilians, especially women and children, suffer atrocities in particular.
The widespread trauma caused by these atrocities and suffering of the civilian population is another legacy of these conflicts, creating extensive emotional and psychological stress. Present-day internal wars generally take a larger toll on civilians than state wars, due to the increasing trend where combatants have made targeting civilians a strategic objective.
In Israel's war against the Palestinian's Hamas, after the latter's surprise attack to the former, the effects of the assault is far-reaching.
And on social media, people are taking sides, including celebrities.
Gal Gadot, is the star the world adores.
While she received many of her international stardom for her roles in franchises such as Wonder Woman and Fast and Furious, she was already famous back then she entered the national Israeli beauty pageant at the age of 18, winning, and later competed as Miss Israel for Miss Universe 2004.
The thing about Gal Gadot is that, she is an Israeli, and a heavy-supporter of her country.
And following Hamas' attack, she became one of the most vocal celebrities to speak out about the war.
Gadot, who previously served as a combat fitness instructor for two years as part of her mandatory years in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and served in the 2006 war, during which the IDF and Hezbollah-aligned militias in Lebanon traded heavy missile fire for more than a month, said that she will always side with the people of her country.
"I stand with Israel, you should too," Gadot wrote in an Instagram post.
"The world cannot sit on the fence when these horrific acts of terror are happening!”
The beauty star also shows her support by announcing her plan to hold a Hollywood private screening of the Hamas terror attack.
Read: Miss Indonesia And Miss Israel Caught In A Heated Israel-Palestine Debate On Instagram
Titled "Bearing Witness to the October 7th Massacre", the project is essentially a 47-footage of Hamas' attack on Israel.
Besides Gal Gadot, another initiator of this screening is Guy Nattive, the Oscar-winning Israeli filmmaker.
He believes that the screening should be shown to people to make the world realize how disheartening the war is to the Israeli civilians.
Nattive credited Gadot and her husband for making the screening possible.
The event is held both in Los Angeles and New York City, with The American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League lending their hands in organizing the screening.
The primary showcasing of the video is said to have about 120 viewers, and then it may have more screenings based on the interest.
The thing is, fans of Gal Gadot come from a vast and diverse audience, meaning that many of them are actually supporters of Palestine, and are against Israel's attacks.
As a result of this, her screening received a lot of mixed reactions from netizens as well as fellow celebrities.
One of whom, is Ana de Armas, one of her colleagues.
The Academy Award nominee reportedly unfollowed Gadot on Instagram as a sign of protest.
Responding to this issue between Gal Gadot and Ana de Armas, the public has also taken sides.
Some fans showed support for the Justice League star, while others praised the Ballerina actress.
Many of them began attacking the Israeli star online through comments and posts, condemning how blind she is by not seeing the many more Palestinians are killed because of the IDF soldiers.
As of 13 November, over 12,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict on 7 October including 40 journalists.
Over 11,240 Palestinians (majority women and children) in the strip were killed according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. A further 178 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank by Israel military and settlers.
On the opposing side, more than 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed, mostly in communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip. Casualties have also occurred in other parts of Israel, southern Lebanon, and Syria.
About 240 people were taken hostage during the attacks on Israel, mostly civilians.
And the screening happens, some 200 people were attending, including an IDF official, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Israeli-American CEO of Mattel, Israeli real estate developer, husband of Israeli actress Gal Gadot, and some Hollywood executives
The Wonder Woman star had helped arrange screenings of the film along with Nattiv, but was not herself in attendance.
While the venue was heavily guarded, anti-Israel protesters were seen physically attacking Jews and pro-Israel attending the screening.
As a result of this, the screening was marred as multiple fights broke out in conjunction.
"We cannot allow current worldwide tension to devolve into this unacceptable violence in our city," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said wrote on X. "This is a time of immense pain and distress for thousands of Angelenos. We must stand together."
On their defense, protesters with the Free Palestine group said that they have no issue with the screening, but it's the film backers who had chosen to bring it to the location, which is the Museum of Tolerance, "to make it look like we’re anti-semitic."
"We’re not anti-semitic; we’re anti-Zionist. We don’t appreciate what they’ve been doing to the Palestinian people for the 75-plus-year occupation," one of the protesters said.
The the screening is meant to be private, and that attendees weren't allowed to bring their mobile phones to prevent leaks to the outside world, it's said that the video compilation shows disturbing images of the attack, including scenes of torture, murder and mutilation of Israeli civilians.
The footage, captured primarily from body cameras worn by Hamas militants and civilians mobile phones, contains graphic content such as burned bodies, including a burnt baby, civilians shot execution-style in homes, cars and public spaces, beheadings and dismemberment of bodies, bodies thrown in dumpsters, soldiers killed at military bases, and female hostages abused and kidnapped.
Besides the horrific footage of war, Bearing Witness also provides insight into the tactics and coordination of the Hamas militants.
For example, it's said that many of the militants disguised themselves in stolen Israeli army and police uniforms to blend with the crowd undetected. The militants also carried equipment like radios for communications, and zip ties to subdue those they want to transport or capture.
When doing this, the militants conceal their firearms, until the moment they want to assault.
While it's also said that the compilation video showed rape of women and beheading of babies, this was later denied by IDF Lt. Colonel Amnon Sheffler, husband of Sara Greenberg, a former Israeli intelligence officer.
He said that it shows "less than 10 percent of the murders" committed on October 7th, but no rape, sexual assault, or the murder of babies or children.
But still, people who have seen it have shared that it is disconcerting.
This isn't the first time Gal Gadot is met with controversies for being a nationalist to her country.
In 2011, she posed for a magazine spread called “The Chosen Ones: Israeli Defense Forces” celebrating the beautiful women of the IDF. In a series of Facebook posts, the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel-Lebanon accused Gadot of boasting “about the army training her for Hollywood.”
Back in 2017, in Lebanon for example, a social media campaign from users in the country wanted to ban the screening Warner Bros. film "Wonder Woman" in Lebanese theaters.
Then in 2021, Gadot posted a tweet about the escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza, saying that "Israel deserves to live as a free and safe nation. Our neighbors deserve the same."
The tweet attracted thousands of replies, leading to her name trending on Twitter. Some people praised her remakes, other reacted angrily.
Gal Gadot is one thing. Before this, some of the most vocal Palestinian supporters, include Lebanese-American former porn star Mia Khalifa, who made a remark that plummeted much of her career she built throughout the years after her retirement from the adult industry, and Gigi Hadid, who voiced her support for Palestine due to her strong ties to her Middle East descent.
