Israel-Palestine debate erupts at Chelsea Handler's comedy show
Handler, who has expressed her support for Israel, called for the removal of Palestinian supporters from the show.
Pop Culture & Art |
April 22, 2024
Chelsea Handler (pictured left) with Israeli politician Shimon Peres (pictured left).
Several supporters of Palestine disrupted Chelsea Handler's Virginia show to protest her strong support for Israel during Tel Aviv’s onslaught on besieged Gaza.
In a video on Instagram, a woman is seen yelling at Handler, who replied, "I can't hear you," and later said, "This is not what this night is for."
Handler requested the removal of the woman from the show. However, other audience members quickly joined in with the protest, including one person who stood and accused Handler, "You're a genocide supporter, genocide supporter!"
The video was posted on Instagram by the account race2dinner with a caption that criticized white women who only engage in superficial activism. The caption urged them to take more meaningful action and to challenge white feminism.
The account wrote, “The mostly white audience got violent, poured wine on protestors, put hands on protestors, tripped protestors, the cops were called and one was arrested. White women against genocide need to be doing more of THIS and less obsessing about feelings.”
Elsewhere in the clip, audience members are seen helping authorities identify the protesters.
One woman urged the audience to focus their anger on genocide rather than on the protesters, saying “you guys should be this angry about genocide, not people standing up! Be angry about genocide. Be angry about genocide. Be angry about genocide, and people dying — children are dying with our tax dollars.”
When an audience member said, "they should die," she challenged them, asking, "They should die? Say that on camera."
Another protester, likely the one who got arrested, is also shown being led away from the show in handcuffs. She told the person recording that the police aimed a taser "at my kidneys," and she was warned, "they’re going to tase me if I don’t give them both hands."
Handler, who is Jewish, has received attention from Palestinian supporters for her comments encouraging Israel’s violence against Palestinians in Gaza.
In February, Chelsea Handler collaborated with Israeli actress Noa Tishby on a video addressing “misinformation” about Israel during the conflict.
International human rights organizations like Amnesty International have also declared Israel an apartheid state.
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