Mark Ruffalo comments cause pushback against anti-Semitism ‘smear campaign’

More than 180 prominent Jewish figures, most of them from the entertainment industry, on Wednesday came out in strong support of Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo, rejecting the accusations of anti-Semitism he has faced since opposing a controversial merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery.

Ruffalo, known for his work in Marvel’s The Hulk and Avengers franchise, had linked Paramount’s proposed $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros to Larry Ellison – cofounder of tech giant Oracle and whose family owns Paramount – and his support for Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza, together with Oracle’s work with the Israeli military.

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Paramount responded by accusing Ruffalo of invoking “anti-Semitic tropes”, saying references to “genocide” and “apartheid” in connection with a corporate transaction went “a bridge too far”.

Ruffalo rejected the Paramount allegation as “appalling and fundamentally dishonest”, arguing that criticism of Israeli government policy, military technology contracts, and the executives involved was not criticism of Jewish people.

Experts say the Ruffalo-Paramount controversy is one of countless examples of a longstanding problem – that accusations of anti-Semitism are increasingly being used to discredit criticism of Israel, particularly as public opinion in the US becomes more critical of the country’s conduct in Gaza.

The controversy

Ruffalo, on August 21, shared an old clip on his Instagram story of Oracle executive vice chair Safra Catz, proudly highlighting the company’s work to support Israel following the Hamas-led October 2023 attack on southern Israel, claiming the California-based tech company helped “advance the agenda for the Israeli military” during its genocide in Gaza.

“We have some really profoundly scary technology at Oracle and we wanted to make sure that it was available for the effort,” Catz said.

Ruffalo went on to criticise Catz, accusing her of revelling in “genocide” committed by what he called an “apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle”.

“From one of the biggest tech companies in the world. Powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world. Why has Trump pushed this illegal merger through?” he added.

“Mergers like this are almost always bad for workers, consumers, and the industry they tend to dominate.”

The staunchly pro-Israel Simon Wiesenthal Center CEO, Jim Berk, denounced Ruffalo’s comment as “a textbook case of obsession and demonisation” of Jews, while another Israel supporter, Anti-Defamation League head Jonathan Greenblatt, labelled the statement “cynical and sickening”.

Ruffalo later clarified that his “views come from my own political convictions and should never be interpreted as hostility toward Jewish people”.

The Avengers star is among many Hollywood actors who have criticised the merger.

In April, more than 1,400 figures from the film industry – among them prominent Hollywood actors and directors such as Ben Stiller and Emma Thompson – signed a letter coming out against the proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery.

“This transaction would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries – and the audiences we serve – can least afford it,” the letter said.

‘Irrational double standard’

Zachary Foster, a Jewish historian of Palestine, described the anti-Semitism accusation against Ruffalo as “a totally nonsensical, irrational double standard”.

“If you attack Israel, you’re anti-Semitic, but if you attack any other country in the world, you’re not accused of being bigoted towards that country’s professed religious identity,” he told Al Jazeera.

The US historian and founder of Palestine Nexus, an online platform dedicated to Palestine-focused education, research and original reporting, said it was “very important” to make the connection between the Ellison family’s ongoing consolidation of main media assets – including the US version of TikTok and CBS – and their close links with the Israeli military.

“This has nothing to do with trying to make a quick buck,” Foster noted, adding that the goal is political.

“This wave that we’re witnessing in the United States, in Europe, and around the world, of more and more criticism of Israel … he’s [Larry Ellison] trying to reverse the tide,” Foster pointed out, a reference to dwindling support for Israel across the political spectrum in many Western nations.

In October, Paramount-Skydance successfully acquired the commentary website The Free Press, naming its pro-Israel and conservative founder Bari Weiss as the editor-in-chief of CBS News.

Larry Ellison himself has been a key funder of the Friends of the Israeli army, contributing $16.6m in 2017 alone, saying there was “no greater honour than supporting some of the bravest people in the world”.

Long history of accusations

Ruffalo is not the first prominent critic of Israel to face accusations of anti-Semitism, with experts pointing out that such allegations have long been used to suppress pro-Palestinian voices and criticism of Israel in the US and beyond.

“Americans are beginning to recognise that anti-Semitism allegations are frequently misused to shut down criticism of Israel, but many people are unaware this strategy has a long history,” Jenin Younes, legal director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), told Al Jazeera.

She pointed to the cases of renowned US-based academics Norman Finkelstein and Steven Salaita, who she said faced “grave professional consequences” due to their outspoken criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Finkelstein and Salaita were denied tenure and a job offer, respectively, shut out from full-time teaching in the US.

Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon and Scream star Melissa Barrera were dropped by their respective agencies following their comments against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. YouTuber and children’s educator Ms Rachel also came under fire after she consistently spoke out about children being killed and starved in the coastal enclave amid ongoing Israeli attacks and siege.

“The primary means is by contorting civil rights law by conflating anti-Israel or anti-Zionist speech with anti-Semitism,” Younes added.

Palestinian-American political analyst Yousef Munayyer, echoing Younes’s sentiments, said over the previous decade, the Israeli government and its supporters decided to go on “the attack against Israeli critics – shifting from defence to offence”.

“They believe that simply defending their policies is no longer effective. It’s very hard to defend apartheid and genocide, for example,” Munayyer told Al Jazeera.

“It is much more effective in terms of controlling the narrative to try to go after the critics. And they’ve done this in a very wide variety of ways, but accusing their critics of anti-Semitism is one of the oldest tactics.”

Another major tactic of many pro-Israel groups to “distract” from criticism of Israel is to attack Muslims and play up the so-called “threat of Islam”, Palestinian Nexus founder Foster said.

Other experts concur, highlighting the recent anti-Muslim and anti-Islam rhetoric of Israeli leaders and pro-Israel supporters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently suggested that “the first Islamic republic with nuclear weapons will be the Islamic Republic of Britain”.

Conservative US media figure and staunch pro-Israel supporter Ben Shapiro this month released the trailer of his company Daily Wire’s movie Infidel, which critics have slammed for pushing anti-Muslim tropes.

‘Deleterious’ effect on Palestinian activism

Accusations of anti-Semitism have had a “deleterious” effect on Palestinian activism, ADC’s Younes said.

“There aren’t protests on campuses any more, really, because the crushing of dissent by Congress and then the Trump administration has been so successful,” she said. “I suspect it’s one reason there was no significant student protest movement against the Iran war.”

Moreover, Younes said, pro-Israel groups had “a willing partner in civil liberties violations in the federal government and a number of state and local governments”, creating consequences severe enough that people choose to remain silent.

Protesters gather outside the Manhattan federal court in support of Mahmoud Khalil, in New York, US [File: Stefan Jeremiah/AP Photo]

“You don’t have to punish everyone: you just have to destroy the lives of a few people like Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk … and everyone gets the message,” she noted.

Khalil, a graduate from Columbia University and prominent figure in the campus protests over the Gaza genocide, was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and held for months over his participation in the months-long encampment at the New York-based campus. Ozturk, a Turkish citizen and student at Tufts University, was detained in the middle of the day outside her home in  Somerville, Massachusetts, by ICE agents, simply for writing an op-ed in her university paper criticising Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Both were subsequently released after appealing their detentions. “Even very well-meaning people aren’t usually willing to risk their lives, or their families’ lives, for political causes-which is understandable,” Younes said.

Tide is shifting

In the face of attacks on Ruffalo, several prominent Hollywood figures have come to the actor’s defence, including Jane Fonda, John Cusack and Hacks star Hannah Einbinder.

On Wednesday, more than 180 Jewish figures joined them in backing Ruffalo.

“Enough with the false and dangerous weaponisation of charges of anti-Semitism against those who are brave enough to point out the obvious: that the assault on the Palestinian people and the assault on our liberties at home are deeply interconnected, and there is nothing anti-Semitic about recognising that fact,” their letter said.

The signatories included filmmaker Joel Coen, actor Joaquin Phoenix and director Jonathan Glazer, among other Hollywood figures.

But the growing backlash against Ruffalo is unfolding alongside another shift – US public opinion on Israel is certainly changing.

Despite mounting efforts by Israel and its supporters to shut down debate on Israeli atrocities and the decades-long occupation and blockade of Palestinian territory, experts say the efforts are failing.

Since the genocide began, poll after poll shows Israel’s popularity in the US and Europe, especially among young people, has plummeted.

A survey by Gallup in February showed 41 percent of Americans sympathised more with Palestinians, while 36 percent remained more favourable to the Israelis.

By contrast, before October 2023, 54 percent of Americans sympathised more with Israel and 31 percent with Palestine.

“The reality on the ground changed people’s views. We all saw the videos. We all saw the horrific scenes coming out of Gaza,” Foster said.

“And obviously beyond – Lebanon, the occupied West Bank, Yemen and now Iran. Israel attacked eight countries in three years. Everyone saw Israel for what it was.”

Younes said pro-Israel groups are “frightened”. “They are losing control of the narrative and support of the population,” she said, while warning that the likes of Ruffalo should stand their ground.

“Every time someone capitulates, they take that as a success story and do it to more people.”