Months after Stranger Things star Noah Schapp made headlines for his pro-Israel comments at the very start of Israel-Gaza war, the 19-year-old actor finally attempted to clear up his past statements via TikTok on Monday evening.
“I feel like my thoughts and beliefs have been so far misconstrued from anything even close to what I believe, and I wanted to just state from my heart how I feel,” Schnapp began. “I only want peace and safety and security for all innocent people affected by this conflict.”
“I’ve had many open discussions with friends from Palestinian background, and I think those are very important conversations to have and I’ve learned a lot,” the actor continued. “One of the takeaways I’ve had is that we all hope for the same things, that being those innocent people still being held hostage in Gaza to be returned to their families, and equally hope for an end to the loss of innocent life in Palestine—so many of those people being women and children, and it’s horrible to see.”
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Last year, Schnapp made several stark statements on the ongoing conflict in Gaza, including sharing the unverified reports that “40 babies were beheaded and burned alive in front of their parents by Hamas.”
“I hope we can agree that Hamas are a recognized terrorist organization: they don't represent the Palestinian people when they value murdering Israelis more than protecting their own,” Schnapp continued last October. “You either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism. It shouldn’t be a difficult choice. Shame on you.”
In November, some fans called for a Stranger Things boycott after Schnapp was filmed smiling alongside friends holding “Zionism is sexy” and “Hamas is ISIS” stickers.
