Bollywood celebrities' support for Palestine leads to renewed boycott calls

Several Bollywood celebrities have shown their support for Palestine, including Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Varun Dhawan, Rashmika Mandanna, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Priyanka Chopra, Triptii Dimri, Malaika Arora, Anurag Kashyap, Kriti Sanon, and Nora Fatehi. They have posted a slogan on social media, sparking the "Boycott Bollywood" trend on X. This trend caught the attention of Pooja Bhatt, who criticized it for targeting the industry whenever it speaks out collectively.

The image shared by these stars shows tents in a camp arranged to spell out "All Eyes on Rafah." By posting this image, they are expressing solidarity with Palestine following an Israeli strike on Rafah. Pooja Bhatt responded on her official X handle, sharing a screenshot of the boycott hashtag and commenting, "And it begins YET again! The price the entertainment industry pays for speaking up collectively for the atrocities being committed in Palestine." She also used the hashtag #AllEyesOnRafah.

The "All Eyes on Rafah" campaign started after Dr. Rick Peeperkorn from the World Health Organization highlighted Rafah's dire situation in February. This came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an evacuation plan due to planned attacks against Hamas. The phrase urges the international community to stay aware of the 1.4 million people seeking refuge in Rafah from Gaza's violence.