Madonna has called for the world to pull together to support the “innocent children” of Gaza, urging that “there is no more time”.
With the crisis mounting in the territory, many onlookers have been moved to speak out to call for humanitarian aid and resources to be allowed into Gaza and in an emotional plea on Instagram on Monday (August 11), Madonna added her voice.
In a letter addressed to Pope Leo XIV, she wrote: “Most Holy Father, please go to Gaza and bring your light to the children before it’s too late. As a mother, I cannot bear to watch their suffering.”
“The children of the world belong to everyone,” she added. “You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry. We need the humanitarian gates to be fully opened to save these innocent children.”
“There is no more time. Please say you will go. Love, Madonna.”
In the caption to her post, the Queen of Pop explained that she was inspired to speak out as it was her son Rocco’s birthday and “the best gift I can give to him as a mother is to ask everyone to do what they can to help save the innocent children caught in the crossfire in Gaza.”
She clarified that she was “not pointing fingers, placing blame or taking sides”, and shared a list of organisations that she urged people to donate to: World Central Kitchen, Women Wage Peace and Women Of The Sun.
Since Hamas’ attack on Israeli citizens at the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023 that killed over 1100 people and saw 250 taken as hostages, multiple UN human-rights experts and UN bodies have stated that Israel’s military actions in Gaza may amount to genocide, and the International Court of Justice has found claims of genocide plausible.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023. Israel rejects the genocide accusations and denies committing any war crimes, maintaining that its operations are lawful acts of self-defence.
Countless musicians have made public statements on the crisis, with Tom Morello writing a passionate criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government this week that called on them to “stop saying that when you burn children alive in their tents and snipe hungry children in the head while they wait in line for food that it’s someone else’s fault.”
The members of U2 shared a lengthy statement of their own on the Israel-Gaza crisis, with Bono saying Netanyahu’s government “deserves our categorical and unequivocal condemnation”.
Damon Albarn, meanwhile, recently described what is happening in Gaza as a “genocide”, saying “we cannot deny the Palestinians their existence”.
Irish rap trio Kneecap have been consistently outspoken against Israel’s actions, and this week accused the Norwegian government of “enabling” the “genocide” through the country’s “oil pension fund” during a show in Oslo.
