Justin Bieber’s effort to address Israel’s fightback against Hamas terrorists saw the Canadian singer post a “Praying for Israel” graphic late on Wednesday only to hastily take it down after critics noted it came with a photo of the Gaza Strip.
He replaced the story within an hour with a new post showing a simple green-and-blue background and the words: “Praying for Israel” followed by a red broken heart emoji.
Canadian singer @justinbieber had shared an image on his Instagram story with the words “Praying for Israel” by using an image from Gaza, Palastine. He later realised and deleted/replaced the image. pic.twitter.com/VaLAXVSLWP
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) October 11, 2023
Critics were quick to take Bieber to task for his image choice and geographical confusion despite the haste with which he took it down.
🇺🇸🇱 American popstar Justin Bieber posts the words “Praying for Israel” over a picture of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/eyaUELsOvg
— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) October 11, 2023
Wow. Justin Bieber literally using Gaza picture, with caption supporting Israel. He then deleted the it and repost without the picture. What a delulu. 😂 pic.twitter.com/GWhqYKIN2J
— ✨NEKO✨ (@mahliyanooo) October 12, 2023
Justin Bieber praying for Israel yet showing a picture of Gaza 🙄 pic.twitter.com/xnPUJxKstl
— Ashlea Simon (@AshleaSimonBF) October 11, 2023
“To vilianize [sic] all Palestinians or all Israeli people to me seems wrong,” Bieber wrote in an earlier post on his Instagram story. “I’m not interested in choosing sides, but I am interested in standing with the families who have been brutally taken from us.”
The singer’s post came just days after the terrorist attack that has so far resulted in the death of over 1,200 Israeli civilians and upwards of 2,000 injured, as Breitbart News reported.