Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai condemned Israel and reiterated her support for Palestinians in Gaza. The statement followed a strong reaction from his home country, Pakistan, over the Broadway musical he co-produced with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Yousafzai, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, was criticized by some for partnering with Clinton, an outspoken supporter of Israel’s war once morest Hamas.
The musical “Suffs” depicts American women’s suffragettes’ campaign for the right to vote in the 20th century. The musical has been playing in New York since last week.
“I want there to be no confusion regarding my support for the people of Gaza,” Yousafzai wrote on X, the former Twitter account.
“We don’t need to see any more corpses, bombed schools and starving children to understand that a ceasefire is urgent and necessary.”
He added: “I have and will continue to condemn the Israeli government for its violations of international law and war crimes.”
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Pakistan has seen many highly emotional pro-Palestinian protests since the war in Gaza began last October.
“Yusafzai’s theatrical collaboration with Hillary Clinton – representing America’s unequivocal support for the genocide of Palestinians – is a major blow to her credibility as a human rights activist,” popular Pakistani columnist Mehr Tarar wrote on social media platform X on Wednesday.
“I find it very tragic.”
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Although Clinton supported the military campaign to remove Hamas and rejected demands for a ceasefire, he also explicitly called for protection for Palestinian civilians.
Yousafzai publicly condemned the civilian casualties and called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The New York Times reported the 26-year-old wore a red-and-black pin while attending the “Suffs” premiere last Thursday, signaling her support for the ceasefire.
Also read: 6 Months of the Israel-Hamas War, Peace in the Gaza Strip is Increasingly Difficult to Achieve
But author and academic Nida Kirmani said in
The war began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of around 1,170 people, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. Hamas militants also kidnapped 250 people and Israel estimates 129 of them are still in Gaza, including 34 people the military said were killed.
Clinton served as America’s top diplomat during former president Barack Obama’s administration, overseeing a campaign of drone strikes targeting Taliban militants in Pakistan and the Afghan border.
Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize following being shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban as she pushed for girls’ education as a teenager in 2012.
However, drone warfare killed and injured a number of civilians in Yousafzai’s home region, sparking more online criticism of the youngest Nobel Laureate, who received the award at the age of 17.
Yousafzai is often viewed with suspicion in Pakistan. Where critics accuse him of pushing a feminist and Western liberal political agenda in the conservative country. (AFP/Z-3)
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