The Hypocrisy Behind the Gal Gadot Pushback

This past Sunday, Gal Gadot announced on Twitter that she would play the ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra in a new movie. Immediately, Twitter and the internet exploded in a veritable storm of hypocrisy and stupidity, based on the fact that an Israeli Jew was cast to play a famous ancient Egyptian queen.

But if anyone thinks that this anger over casting was just about the desire for actors to only play roles within their own ethnic group, then they are not paying attention to the anti-Semitism that motivates the Gal Gadot haters. That hatred leads to the hypocrisy evident in the objections to her casting, first as Wonder Woman, and now, as Cleopatra.

The Real Cleopatra

On the most basic level, the tweets against Gadot were absurd because they were based on misinformation (at best). Tweets by people like former RT reporter, Sameera Khan, complained that an Israeli (((Joo))) was “stealing” an “Arab” movie role. Other, more polite tweets complained that Gal Gadot wasn’t “dark” enough or African enough to play Cleopatra.

First of all, Gal Gadot, as a Jew, is not “white.” I and others wrote about this topic extensively when the internet first spewed hate at her for being cast as Wonder Women (see, here, and here).

But these particular complaints were also inane and ahistorical because Cleopatra was neither ethnically Arab nor Black. She wasn’t even an indigenous African. Like the Hellenists whose rule over Judea was overthrown by the famous Maccabees, Cleopatra was the last active Hellenistic ruler of the Macedonian Greek Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt. Not only was Cleopatra Greek (and thus, clearly European), she was also the product of incest. Most historians believe Cleopatra’s mother and father were brother and sister—meaning that Cleopatra was not just Greek; she likely had barely any ancestry outside of her own family.

As for the notion that Cleopatra should be an “Arab role,” as posited by Khan, the Arab conquest and colonialization of North Africa—including Egypt—did not even start until over 600 years after Cleopatra died. Any claim Cleopatra must be played by an Arab is not only historically daft, it is itself a hat-tip to the Arab conquest and colonialization of North Africa.

A Double Standard

What is even more harmful about the criticisms of Gadot’s casting are the double standards and the anti-Semitism underlying them.

After the initial social media explosion over Gal Gadot being cast as Cleopatra, a friend of mine posted on Facebook about Ziva David, the most popular Israeli character on American TV. “Ziva,” a Mossad agent on NCIS, is played by non-Israeli and non-Jewish actress Cote de Pablo, who is from Chile. Of course, no one complains about a non-Jewish (and non-Israeli) actress playing an Israeli Jew.

And there are many, many famous Jewish roles played by non-Jewish actors. A short list would have to include: Eric Bana (who plays Mossad agent Avner Kaufman in Munich), Rachel Brosnahan (who plays Miriam “Midge” Maisel in The Marvelous Ms. Maisel), Tony Shalhoub (who plays Abe Weissman, Ms. Maisel’s dad), Courtney Cox (who played Monica Geller in Friends), Felicity Jones (who played Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the 2018 biopic On the Basis of Sex), Christian Bale (who played Moses in Exodus: Gods and Kings), or Geoffrey Rush (who played Albert Einstein in the show Genius).

Of course, this is just a snapshot of characters and roles, and there are likely many others. The point is not that many non-Jewish actors have played distinctly Jewish characters. The point is that any complaint about a Jewish woman like Gal Gadot playing a non-Jewish character raises the clear double-standard applied to Jewish actors and Jewish roles. No casting of a non-Jew in a Jewish role has ever resulted in any discernable outcry, let alone countless vitriolic articles, Tweets, and social media posts, as we have seen with Gal Gadot.

Of course, no one complains about a non-Jewish (and non-Israeli) actress playing an Israeli Jew.

This hypocrisy also reveals the ugly taint of anti-Semitism. Just as Israel, the Jew among the nations, is subject to hypocritical double standards by journalists such as Sameera Khan, who call it out for every sleight (both real and imagined) but ignore heinous actions by other countries, far too many get up in arms when a Jew is cast in the role of a famous non-Jew. But just as these people can’t be found to even retweet about Chinese concentration camps for Uighur Muslims or about government-sponsored death squads in Venezuela, the same people never seem to care the slightest when a non-Jew is cast in a clearly Jewish role.

To put it simply: if you only care enough to object or protest over something when it involves Israel or Jews, then you are plainly not motivated by concerns for justice, equality, or equal opportunity—you are motivated by Jew-hatred. People who have never objected about non-Jewish actors playing Jewish roles but then wax apoplectic when a Jewish woman gets cast as Cleopatra reveal that they don’t have an issue with acting outside of an ethnic group. Rather, they have an issue with Jews, particularly strong, proud, and unapologetic Jews like Gadot, playing roles that are not specifically Jewish.

One can either be for the principle that all roles should be played only by actors from the same ethnic group or be for the principle that actors should play any role they can make believable and enjoyable for the audience. Both of these positions have their pros and cons, and neither of them is discriminatory or anti-Semitic. But when you apply the former principle only when a Jew is cast in the role of a non-Jew, then that is anti-Semitic, and your outrage is not motivated by principle. It is motivated by hate.