Jennifer Garner, Reese Witherspoon turn focus to ‘innocent’ children on both sides in response to war

Jennifer Garner, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and other A-listers have begun to offer messages on the Israel-Hamas war that try to rise above the bitter divisions and appeal 'to the better parts for our humanity'

A number of A-list stars have begun taking to social media to share their “heartbreak” and horror over last weekend’s attack by Hamas terrorists on Israeli communities and the escalating war in and around Gaza. But these stars seem to be trying to avoid mistakes made by Kylie Jenner, Justin Bieber and other celebrities, who posted poorly considered messages earlier in the week that were held up as examples for why the public often doesn’t want to hear from influencers and entertainers in the midst of global crisis.

Indeed, it’s likely that Jennifer Garner, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Kerry Washington, among others, consulted with their teams about what they should say on social media — or if they should say anything at all. These stars all are seen as role models in American popular culture, and their reputations depend on them being seen as sensible, decent, likable. For the most part, they also tend to steer clear of controversy.

So, when it comes to the highly polarizing Israel-Hamas war, Garner, Witherspoon, Aniston, Washington and other stars have shared Instagram messages that try to rise above the bitter divisions and to appeal “to the better parts for our humanity,” as Witherspoon said.

Notably, these actors are not necessarily taking sides in the war — unlike Jenner, Bieber and Madonna, who all stated that they “stand with Israel.” However, Garner, Witherspoon, Aniston and Washington were careful to avoid “bothsidesing.” They made it clear that they condemn Hamas for “the brutal murder and kidnapping of Jewish people,” as Witherspoon also said. Washington also wrote about her grief for all the people who were “horrifically injured, tortured, kidnapped and killed,” referring to Israelis and others, including Americans, who were victimized by Hamas.

But these actors also extended their concern to “innocent” Palestinians, particularly to children. In fact, all four actors expressed their greatest concern for children, with Witherspoon invoking her role “as a mother” to explain why she, a mother of three, was having a hard time finding the words to express her “despair and outrage” over the Hamas attacks.

“Children are first to suffer in conflict,” Garner also said. Garner shares three children with ex-husband Ben Affleck. “We must stand with every mother and father holding their children in this darkness and pray for every parent separated from them, or, God forbid, unable to hold their child,” she said.

“The ultimate human toll of innocent Israeli and Palestinian people is unthinkable to imagine and we know — children will be the most impacted,” continued Garner, who quoted Eglantyne Jebb, the founder of Save the Children, who once noted, “Every war is a war against children.”

Garner also said she would begin donating to Save the Children, which highlights another significant feature of her messaging, as well as the posts of Witherspoon, Aniston and Washington. The four say they want to offer ideas for how their combined 95 million followers can help, and organizations to which they can make donations. In this way, these A-listers aren’t just relieving themselves of difficult feelings or grandstanding. They are instead using their considerable social media platforms for a purpose: to publicize nonprofits that can help people affected by the war.

Washington, for example, shared contact information about several “trusted” humanitarian groups that are helping people in both Israel and Palestine, including American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and Doctors Without Borders.

For her Instagram Story post, Aniston apparently didn’t pen her own message but shared one from actor Mandy Patinkin, which said: “It’s not lost on us that the victims of war are every person on either side who simply long for a home and for the sense of safety and belonging.” But separately, Aniston suggested that her 42 million followers donate to Jewish Agency’s Fund for Victims of Terror, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and two other organizations that aim to help people on both sides of the conflict. Witherspoon, Aniston’s “The Morning Show” co-star, didn’t immediately provide a list of relief organizations but promised they were forthcoming.

What’s also notable about these actors’ war-related posts is that the comments are turned off. If there is backlash, these women won’t have to read it in their Instagram feeds.

Kylie Jenner was the first major star to face backlash over her public reaction to Hamas’ deadly attack last Saturday.  As harrowing reports began to pour out over the weekend about terrorists massacring Israeli civilians and kidnapping mothers and their young children, Jenner shared a graphic from StandWithUs, California-based nonprofit organization that supports Israel. But the reality TV star and cosmetics mogul was met with immediate and furious backlash, including a flood of Palestinian flags and pro-Palestinian messages.

Some observed that Jenner probably isn’t the kind of celebrity who should weigh in on a volatile international crisis, given that she mostly seems to care about promoting her image as a glamorous influencer. Within an hour, Jenner had deleted the post, but this move brought more backlash, this time from supporters of Israel who expressed anger that she so easily caved to criticism.

As for Bieber, he was slammed for sharing the message, “Praying For Israel,” which was overlaid with a photo of Gaza in ruins. The singer was quick to delete the Instagram Story post, and replace it with a “Praying For Israel” message that didn’t include the photo. But internet users had saved his original post and shared it across social media.

“We’ve reached peak meaningless pop delusion,” one user said in response to a screen shot of Bieber’s original post, Yahoo News reported. “Showing the obliterated ruins of Gaza with ‘Praying for Israel’ is a depraved sign of the times.” Others called the “tone-deaf” post an example of celebrities who follow trends, with “zero education … like sheep.”

Yahoo News also shared an informal poll, asking, “Do you think celebs should weigh in on the Middle Eastern conflict?” Out of more than 14,800 votes, 66% said “no.”