Lewis Hamilton has released a message of support to the Palestinian people, calling for an end to the Gaza-Israel conflict. On October 7th, 2023 the military wing of Hamas launched a military offensive codenamed Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. According to Wikipedia, Hamas’s mission goal was “to end the last occupation on Earth.” The attack by Hamas was in response to a 16-year blockade and continued violence and killings by settlers and the IDF against the Palestinians.

October 7th, 2023, was a deadly day for the state of Israel. The Hamas military campaign killed over 1,200 people and resulted in over 250 hostages being taken. Israel duly responded by launching a full-scale carpet bombing of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, dropping more bombs in 4 months than America dropped during the entirety of the 10-year Vietnam conflict.

The Gazan population, numbering over 2.8 million people, was displaced, with many killed under a blanket of bombs and buried under mountains of rubble that once comprised their homes or apartments. Over 30,000 people, mostly women and children, have perished, or vapourised with many more remaining entombed beneath the rubble and remnants of their destroyed homes, perhaps never to be recovered.

On his Instagram account, Hamilton called for an end to the conflict and for Hamas to release all hostages.

“Sending my love and support to all the people in Palestine who are spending this holy time facing danger, loss and heartbreak,” he wrote. “In a month that is sacred to so many in the region, we must keep calling for a permanent ceasefire and return of hostages so that families can be together and be free from the constant threat of destruction and violence.”

“Ceasefire now,”

On October 9th, 2023, Israel imposed a complete siege on the Gazan population, cutting off water, medicine, and food supplies. Famine is being used as a weapon of war, which is illegal under International Humanitarian Law. The remaining population, trapped in the southern region near the Egyptian border, is facing further Israeli bombardment.

While Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and its major Western allies, it has been argued that Israel is committing war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide in its mission to rid Gaza of Hamas. Despite being viewed as a terrorist organization, Hamas was democratically elected in 2006 elections that were verified by Western independent observers as being free and fair.

Many media outlets have decided not to report Hamilton’s solidarity with the innocent people of Gaza. Only a few, such as RaceFans.net and Sportskeeda.com, have dared to publish Hamilton’s message. This is because supporting the Palestinians and calling for a permanent ceasefire could be perceived as being anti-Semitic.

It should be noted that the etymology of “anti-Semitic” designates a group of languages—Aramaic, Arabic, Hebrew, and others—spoken by the descendants of the Biblical figure Sem, son of Noah.