Lewis Hamilton has spoken out about the Middle East conflict on Instagram and then explained why he is calling for a ceasefire now
Lewis Hamilton has spoken out on Instagram about the war in Israel and Gaza and called for a ceasefire: “We must call for a permanent ceasefire and a return of hostages so that families can be together again and no longer be under constant threat of destruction and violence. Ceasefire now,” wrote the seven-time Formula 1 world champion in an Instagram story.
In this context,
Hamilton sends “my love and support to all the people of Palestine who are facing hunger, loss and heartbreak at this sacred time”, and “in a month that is sacred to so many in the region”, namely the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Since 7 October 2023, the terrorist organization Hamas has murdered or killed 1,139 people in an attack on Israel and subsequent fighting. According to the Wikipedia entry, this was “the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust”. A further 239 Israeli hostages were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip.
In response to the terrorist attack, the Israeli government ordered a tighter blockade of the Gaza Strip on October 9, 2023, leaving the people there with hardly any access to food and energy supplies. Since then, the region has been at war again. Israel has called up 300,000 reservists for military service.
A development that Hamilton regrets: “We can all see what is happening there from afar. You can’t ignore it, you hear it on the news every day,” he explains on his Instagram story when asked.
It is “hard to believe that we live in such times”, regrets the 39-year-old and criticizes: “As humanity, we don’t seem to have learned anything from the past. Children and women are killed every day and our political leaders do nothing about it. I can no longer process that.”
Hamilton explains that he gave the social media post a lot of thought, “because just because you post something doesn’t mean that anything will change in the way the government does business. I’ve wanted to say something on this subject for a long time, but I’ve had to hold back. Because if I say too much, the message might not have the impact it should.”
It is interesting that in his Instagram story, Hamilton both specifically addresses the suffering of the Palestinians and calls for a ceasefire on behalf of the Jews in Israel so that the kidnapped hostages can return to their families. Possibly a deliberate choice of wording to avoid taking sides in the conflict
Hamilton doesn’t want to do politics, he wants peace. He says: “I think it’s an issue we need to talk about. Why is there no ceasefire? We need a ceasefire, and we need it now. It can’t go on like this. But the powers that be don’t want that. “
