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Euphoria star Hunter Schafer arrested at pro-Palestine protest

‘Hunger Games’ actor joined Jewish-led organisation to call for Gaza ceasefire

Ellie Muir
Thursday 29 February 2024 01:25 EST
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Hunter Schafer arrested while protesting for Palestine with Jewish Voice for Peace

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Hunter Schafer was arrested while at a pro-Palestine protest with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) on Monday.

The actor, 25, who is best known for her roles in the hit teen drama Euphoria and Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, called for a ceasefire in Gaza as she protested with the Jewish-led self-described “anti-Zionist” organisation on Monday to disrupt President Joe Biden’s appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

The Jewish-led anti-Zionist organisation has said that the actor was at the NBC headquarters at the Rockefeller Centre, New York, and was arrested alongside 50 protesters.

“Hunter was arrested at the protest, along with 50 other people,” a JVP spokesperson said in a statement to Vulture. “We commend her commitment to Palestinian freedom and to a future of justice for everyone.”

Photos of the event show Shafer wearing a t-shirt printed with a slogan demanding a ceasefire.

Schafer and protesters being lead out of the Rockefeller Centre
Schafer and protesters being lead out of the Rockefeller Centre (REUTERS)

In a video posted on the organisation’s Instagram account, Schafer and the protesters chant: “No more weapons, no more war, ceasefire’s what we’re fighting for.” They continued: “Joe Biden, we know you are here. You are not welcome in our city.”

Schafer photographed in November
Schafer photographed in November (Getty Images)

The group criticised Biden’s foreign policy and called for his administration to reconsider its stance and push for a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

A banner held by Shafer and her fellow protesters, read: “Jews to Biden – stop arming genocide.”

The Independent has contacted the NYPD and representatives for Schafer for comment.

Demonstrators protest inside the Rockefeller Center asking for a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas
Demonstrators protest inside the Rockefeller Center asking for a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas (REUTERS)

On their website, the JVP says it is the “largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organisation in the world. We’re organizing a grassroots, multiracial, cross-class, intergenerational movement of US Jews into solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle, guided by a vision of justice, equality, and dignity for all people”.

“Like generations of Jewish leftists before us, we fight for the liberation of all people. We believe that through organising, we can and will dismantle the institutions and structures that sustain injustice and grow something new, joyful, beautiful, and life-sustaining in their place,” it said.

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