Though she is about as far from a political activist as a celebrity can get, reality star Kim Kardashian got thoroughly blasted throughout the day after she posted a tweet that many interpreted as being sympathetic to Israel in the growing conflict occurring in the Middle Eastern nation.
On Friday morning, Kardashian sent out a tweet to her almost 17 million followers that said she was “Praying for everyone in Israel.” The escalating violence in Gaza has killed at least 16 Palestinians and three Israelis. In addition to the deaths, more than 100 Palestinians have been injured. There is a growing fear that Israel is about to launch a ground invasion, as Israeli troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers have massed near the Palestinian territory.
After her tweet, Kardashian was inundated with a barrage of hateful attacks on Twitter, such as “Die in hell,” another calling her a “bit*h” who “should die there,” while others were even more threatening. Others said they had “lost all respect for her,” were giving her “the middle finger,” and called her a “disgrace to her people” and outright “disgusting.”
Some others were more to the point, telling her she should be “praying for Palestine, not Israel.” So Kardashian followed that advice and put up another tweet that said she was “praying for everyone in Palestine and across the world!”
But soon after, Kardashian perhaps realized she was in way over her head and deleted both tweets—returning to more comfortable subjects, such as her two-hour Tracy Anderson workout this morning.
But the hate kept coming.
“Hahaha @KimKardashian deleted her tweets, must have had SERIOUS backlash from her idiotic uninformed tweets,” one response said. Another called her a “dumb idiot” who “shouldn’t talk about what she doesn’t understand.”
Having had enough, Kardashian answered the critics in a blog later on Friday, with a post entitled “A Message to You Guys.”
“I want to own up to and explain that earlier today I sent out two tweets about saying prayers for the people in Palestine and Israel and after hearing from my followers, I decided to take down the tweets because I realized that some people were offended and hurt by what I said, and for that I apologize,” she wrote. “I should have pointed out my intentions behind these tweets when I posted them. The fact is that regardless of religion and political beliefs, there are countless innocent people involved who didnt choose this, and I pray for all of them and also for a resolution. I also pray for all the other people around the world who are caught in similar crossfires.”
Just the night before, Kardashian did her own very good deed for the American armed forces when she accompanied Sgt. Martin Gardner to the 10th annual Marine Corps. Ball in North Carolina on Thursday. Kardashian, 32, wore a red floor-length dress by Roland Mouret.
“Just left the Marine Corps Ball. Thanks to all the marines I had the opportunity to meet tonight! Thank you for all that you do!” Kardashian tweeted Thursday night.
No tweets from her boyfriend Kanye West yet about Kim’s date with Sgt. Gardner.
