Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian have spoken out on the war between Israel and Hamas, after a social media backlash towards half-sister Kylie Jenner. The Kardashians are among a number of celebrities who’ve weighed in on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The 26-year-old beauty mogul shared a graphic from the pro-Israel Instagram account @StandWithUs on October 7, but quickly removed the image following a negative response from followers.
Jenner’s post went live shortly after news of the unprecedented attacks by Hamas broke, and read: “Now and always we stand with the people of Israel!”
“SHARE if you stand with the people of Israel as they face one of the most frightening situations in many years,” the reality star captioned the post.
The death toll from Hamas’ weekend attacks has exceeded 1,000, according to Israel’s embassy in Washington and reported by Reuters. The same news organization also reports Gaza’s health ministry as saying the death toll from Israel’s retaliatory air strikes has exceeded 770.
The mother of two deleted the post within an hour, after fans accused Jenner of “having no idea what is going on” in the conflict.
“Shame on her,” commented ohshesreadin.
“They don’t know s*** regarding this matter. stupid people,” said _hajrah.
“Right now Celebrities should only condemn the war crimes which are happening from both sides,” wrote Mike.
Nevertheless, the fierce backlash against their half-sister—daughter of Olympic great Caitlyn Jenner—doesn’t seem to have deterred the older Kardashians from speaking out, with both sharing the same statement from Instagram user @jordancbrown_ to their Stories.
“It is absolutely reasonable and logical to be opposed to the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians while simultaneously calling for the protection of Jews in Israel and around the world,” the statement reads.
“I understand many of us are afraid to voice an opinion because the crisis there is so nuanced and hard to understand, and we are afraid of saying the wrong thing. But we can—and must—always use our voices to denounce terrorism and the senseless murder of civilians.”
A few days after her siblings’ posts, Kim Kardashian shared a lengthy statement about the ongoing conflict to her Instagram on October 11.
“A message to my Jewish friends and family. I love you. I support you. I have heard about how scared you feel during this time, and I want you to know you are not alone in this. My heart is broken seeing the videos of these babies and families being terrorized and murdered in front of the whole world! As human beings with a heart, how can anyone not be devastated by these horrific images that we will never be able to unsee? Brutal terrorism has taken innocent lives and now both Israeli and Palestinian civilians are suffering and paying the greatest price there is.”
Kardashian went on to share her thoughts on the ongoing unrest in Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as the Republic of Artsakh: “As an Armenian, I am particularly sensitive to these issues because I have been talking about the Armenian Genocide for years, and now, after months of blockade with minimal media coverage and no external support, Armenians are the victims of an ethnic cleansing themselves in Artsakh. They are in this moment also suffering from an extreme humanitarian crisis, and there are still prisoners of war being held captive or missing.”
“No matter who’s side you’re on, or how you’ve been triggered by the horrors of these past few days, our hearts should always have room for compassion towards innocent victims caught in the cross hairs of warring over power, politics, religion, race, and ethnicity.”
Earlier this year, the 41-year-old called attention to the “genocide” of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh region, after Azerbaijan confirmed it had taken control of the disputed territory. Kardashian has Armenian heritage from her father Robert Kardashian’s side of the family.
In 2018, the reality star refused to rule out running for office, telling CNN‘s Van Jones “never say never.”
Newsweek has reached out to Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian for comment via email.
Correction 10/4/23, 3:57 a.m. ET: This article previously said that Kylie Jenner was Kourtney and Khloe’s step-sister, but she is actually their half-sister.
Update 10/12/23, 8:34 a.m. ET: Updated to add information on Kim Kardashian’s social media post.