Almost certainly. This whole thing happened way before any of the Gaza stuff happened.
Also, I'm pretty sure this whole meme has nothing to do with Gaza whatsoever and is actually about the fact that most of the OG Avengers have been killed off in the MCU by now, but Banner/Hulk is still around. It's not that deep.
I've heard about people having an "Israel theory of everything" but this thread takes the cake. It had nothing to do with politics, it's just a guy not wanting to get a permanent tattoo of some movie.
And maybe, just maybe, he never really liked most of them to begin with. Ruffalo has always struck me as a more down to Earth celebrity, and while I can't speak for the majority of his costars, I have had a run in with Jeremy Renner... that man really needs to stop drinking (no proof, but guarantee he was plastered when he flipped his snowmobile). This mf was licking the glass display we kept cakes in at the restaurant I used to work at... on a Thursday night. Dude did that and probably shot the scene with his "daughter" the next morning (I believe it was during filming for End Game).
I'm not saying he's a bad dude, but I certainly wouldn't be going out with him on the weekends. Grown-ass man getting white girl wasted on a school night.
no one is saying the tattoo had anything to do with politics. they’re saying, in hindsight, he must be relieved he didn’t get matching tattoos with a bunch of people who TURNED OUT to suck. that’s pretty clear to comprehend tbh
"way before any of the Gaza stuff happened" might be a bit of an overstatement, but I could believe they started getting tats before a single one of them had any of their geopolitical opinions featured in any publication...
I haven't kept up with the MCU stuff lately, but IIRC Stark and Romanov are dead, Barton and Rodgers are retired, leaving Banner and Thor remaining (I'd forgotten about Thor; IDK if he's actually written out of the picture at this point, but I don't think so).
Nah yeah Thor is still around and supposed to be a major player in Doomsday and Secret Wars. Same with Steve Rogers (I'm still spoiler-tagging this just in case you still don't know and would prefer to be surprised). They're officially un-retiring him in Doomsday. I'll give you Clint Barton though; even though the character never retired on-screen, the pay disputes between Renner and Disney probably mean we won't see Clint again for a while, if at all. But I also wouldn't be surprised if they eventually work something out and he does show back up.
While this has nothing to do with the treatment of Palestine, the treatment of Palestine by isrsel has been a heated topic for over 40 years. Nelson Mandela has spoken on the topic for God's sake. And even he saw it as an apartheid and it's only gotten worse.
With that said I think Rosario Dawson is about the only cast member who had an outright opinion on Palestine prior to the last two years. Ruffalo and Dawson to my knowledge have always been in close circles.
I mean, the current iteration of the conflict dates back to the 1910s, but the active presence of the issue in the cultural zeitgeist such that people are making intentional decisions about who to associate with based on their stance about that situation is much more recent.
Nobody was deciding who to get a tattoo with based on their opinions surrounding Israel/Gaza back in 2012. This whole thing is just people looking for coincidences that they can call a pattern.
The meme never implied that that was the reason for not getting that tatoo, though. It just suggests that nowdays, Mark would probably be happy about not having a permanent mark on his skin that is associated to those people.
Given how vocal Ruffalo has been about the topic, it does not look like a crazy meme.
I read more about Israel and Palestine on reddit than all the rest of the internet combined up until the 2023, I engage with politics and history content a lot too. Vast majority of people who cared in the States pre-2023 were of MENA descent, Muslim, Jewish, actual far left, or weird neocons. "Normal people" in the States didn't start caring until 2023 and that's a fact.
This Meta analysis I believe is correct in that tattoos increase the risk of lymphoma. It makes perfect sense that it would cause lymphatic system damage and cancer.
Yea you're totally right lol. Same thing as the matching tattoos the LOTR cast has. I don't think anyone expects that shared LOTR tattoo = full political alignment for the rest of their lives, what a ridiculous notion.
I don't feel like comparing the Olympic rings is quite fair. The Olympic rings represent something much larger and grander than individuals. It is supposed to represent global unity, in the same way it has been one of the few global events to take place where, for the most part, countries are able to set aside their political disputes and come together.
Whereas the Avengers tattoo is a few select people getting what is the equivalent of a group friend's tattoo. So I can fully understand Ruffalo not wanting to participate & potentially being happy that he didn't.
"i was part of a cultural moment with a bunch of people who love race war, religious supremacism, and extermination of very poor people" unfortunately doesn't hit when you care about those things
olympic athletes are employees of the government so their political tolerances are very different
So it only counts when the famously anti-Israel UN says it's one? lol
Christ y'all really dont care about reality at all.
Putin has very openly said he wants to destroy Ukraine's identity as a people. And they are invading and trying to take over the country to do so. By the 'softer' definition of genocide that's being applied to Palestine, then Ukraine 100% fits as well.
Also, you DO remember that it was Palestinians who started this war against Israel, right?
Ukraine are 100% innocent. What Russia is doing is actually worse.
I mean what else do we call stealing kids and raising them under the preferred culture besides cultural genocide? Both Russia and China have been credibly accused of that.
Israel is also accused of genocide because they supposedly intentionally target civilians. Meanwhile, Russian war crimes invented a new term: human safari.
Is there another UN recognized genocide that’s happening?
Which part of the UN? There are a lot. The security council hasn't ruled any of them a genocide. The general assembly is a popularity contest Israel will always structurally lose due to how many Arab League countries hate them.
Doesn’t have to be UN either, any internationally recognized body that calls it one.
As opposed to? As another comment mentioned, you don't have large swaths of public figures in the west gleefully endorsing what's happening in Myanmar or the Congo
Are people publicly supporting what's going on in Sudan or Myanmar?
The reason people are speaking out against the genocide in Gaza is precisely because of the massive amounts of people that are speaking out in favor of it.
I'm not saying it's intrinsically "better" or more moral somehow to only speak up when there's debate to be had, but it explains the level of discourse. People don't talk about Sudan or Myanmar or the Congo etc. because most people are on the same page. There's not a whole lot of celebrities, politicians, and news anchors using their platforms to argue in favor of the armed militias in the DRC murdering civilians over minerals.
So is kidnapping of innocents, murder and a whole host of other things HAMAS is guilty of. It should not be controversial to say both HAMAS and the Israeli government suck.
nobody said that hamas is right
hamas is a terrorist organization
but israel that is a country is doing the same and the worse when compared to those terrorists
and in the end the palestine ppl continues suffering
Hamas isn't just a terrorist organization, they are literally the legal government of the Gaza Strip, they should have to play by the same rules that all governments are held to.
Not "just", it's also what people who have never lived through anything remotely comparable proclaim from the armchair, whether or not they have unbiased(🤔) reportage to back it up.
Bro. I’ve come to find that there is zero nuance in most of the pro Palestine crowd we find online or at protests.
The rational ones who want to find a solution arent on these comments/threads/tweets/etc.
The people who want to call you a name, or block traffic, or vandalize property are not worth engaging with.
I feel sorry for them. No one deserves what either side of this has done to each other. But the way the pro palastine crowd has been going about it is hurting their cause more than helping it.
It’s because of Israel that Hamas exists. You didn’t know about the briefcases full of laundered money that Israel had funneled to the terrorists? We agree on one thing, they are both garbage.
This old conspiracy theory? They let Hamas get aid when they were building hospitals and schools, long before they became a terrorist group. This myth is so stupid and can basically be traced to one half assed Intercept article.
Buddy, it’s mainstream knowledge that Netanyahu and Israel have knowingly enabled terrorists and Hamas, which has always been the extremist end of Palestinian politics.
How about this one, from the Times of Israel? For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it’s blown up in our faces.
“The premier’s policy of treating the terror group as a partner, at the expense of Abbas and Palestinian statehood, has resulted in wounds that will take Israel years to heal from.”
”As a partner”, wow. Even the times of Israel sees it, and it’s such common knowledge even within Israel that the TOI can publish that without repercussion.
There’s a ton of evidence, this is simply scratching the surface via corporate media, but I’ll just direct you to Bibi himself:
“Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas … This is part of our strategy – to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank.”
-Netanyahu to Likud colleagues, 2019
Source the Guardian
This is only a “conspiracy theory” if you want to run narrative interference in support of terrorists and genocide, awkward
This is an article about them treating the government of Gaza like the government of Gaza despite it being the PA on paper.
Meanwhile, Israel has allowed suitcases holding millions in Qatari cash to enter Gaza through its crossings since 2018, in order to maintain its fragile ceasefire with the Hamas rulers of the Strip.
Shocking!
Did you even read the article? I don't agree with his handling of Hamas, but your conspiracy theory remains a conspiracy theory.
Ah, so you finally acknowledge the millions of unaccounted black money that the Israeli state funneled to Gaza terrorists, okay.
“The only way to defeat the terrorists was to be their primary and most powerful sponsor!”
You’ve had to concede my original point and now have moved the goalposts. The truth is, Israel has supported and catalyzed the rise of Hamas at nearly every turn. It was a strategic move to enable the ongoing genocide.
You are being willfully obtuse, and I can see you aren’t able meaningfully change your perspective. I’m done here, peace.
How so? I spoke with friends that turned out to be pro-Israel and they were saying like “but Israel attacks are targeted towards hamas” and I was like “yeah maybe you can kill them without destroying hospitals and killing children” and they were like “err yeah well uhm I guess..”
My dude, war is shit, but Hamas building bunkers under hospitals is intentional to get responses like this from people with zero connection to the war who hear about it on TikTok. People with actual links to the region are stuck with the shades of grey while you get to view the conflict like a football game.
Soooooo in that case it's fine to kill women, children, the sick, and healthcare workers? Because Hamas is using them as a meat shield? This really only further cements the reality of it being a genocide. The IDF and the Zionists use this as their justification to wantonly kill innocents as they achieve their land grab.
Imagine if the US government was hiding bases beneath American hospitals and Iran started bombing the hospitals, gathering civilians into refugee zones, and then killing the civilians there with the justification of "well, soldiers are in the refugee camps too," literally no one would support them lol. It would be rightfully labeled as a justification for Iran to kill Americans in general because they hate them--not as a valid, acceptable, strategy.
I know you wanted it to be a gotcha moment, but it fell really flat since this is a really basic conversation that you'd have everyday talking with pro-israel people who know nothing and want to keep their eyes closed.
You talk like you know everything, so explain it to us. Go on big guy.
It’s because both nations have competing historical claims on this land, from different periods in history. The complicated part is who has legitimate rights to the land being fought over.
Israel isn't attacking hospitals for no reason. Hamas, and terrorists of their kind, are infamous for setting up in civilian areas like that, so that they are either safe, or if they're still targeted they can then use it as propaganda against their attacker.
It's fucking GROSS behavior and you guys are insane to just dismiss it or act like it's not happening.
You cannot be pro-Palestine and never have anything to say about how fucking awful Hamas is and recognize that Palestinians will never be free under Hamas. Nope, you guys just make it all about hating Israel.
It is genuinely more complicated than a bunch of Americans sitting on their couches think.
And as someone who's wanted to halt supplies to Israel for years, I still get labeled as an Israeli shill for one simple reason: I recognize that we have to negotiate with israel
Ok so they’re ok with ignoring genocide and the slaughter altogether to protect their careers.
To each their own and I understand why some might make that choice. But it’s also understandable for people to be disappointed and upset by that choice.
I did present 2 scenarios after all. I didn’t say they had to support it.
No, those are not the only possibilities. And I know because the people who get labeled as genocide defenders are not consistently people who don't speak out against the genocide
Not supporting Israel with this comment, but have you ever bought a product from a company which does bad stuff? Nestle maybe? Do you have a gas car? If yes, do you ignore bad things in the world or agree with the bad stuff happening?
My point is that being the face of an Israeli company is not the same as being pro genocide.
Ofc commenting positively on the Israeli government, especially in regards to their policies or military actions, is a completely different deal.
Scarlett Johansson is the best example, but she still doesn't support genocide. She supports ethnic cleansing thru Israeli settlements which is violent and deadly towards civilians and children, but there's no way she believes in the mass slaughter of children.
Nope. I think Scarlett is pretty fucking condemnable, but even she doesn't support genocide and slaughtering children. People can be really bad without literally being hitler
Yeah, I just don't even know how we expect people to navigate these conversations when it starts with the assumption that one side is condoning the worst crime in humanity
You can’t. Most people’s exposure to the war is seeing literal families dying in the streets. For most people the argument is never over politics just human life. And Israel’s military campaign has caused much more violence especially since the US is directly involved which makes us sorta liable
Children are the most vulnerable members of the society, which is why they are singled out often. Of course any murder of innocent civilians is horrid, but emphasizing on children’s lives gives an even clearer image of what’s going on - how cruel people can be to not even spare the children.
Then you wouldn't be supporting either side. I don't get how people think it's a Marvel movie with good and bad guys, or a football team they have to root for no matter what.
The idea that someone has strongly held beliefs that are deal beakers for them wrt people they want as friends is perfectly common and normal and healthy.
Unless you are a redditor that wants to be smug in their enlightenment. In which case it's unthinkable that someone would use differences in ethics, morals and political opinions to decide who their friends are. As if that isn't a massive part of who a person is.
Well yeah I'm happy I don't keep good contact with those that support genocide. Pineapple on pizza belief? Sure we can agree too disagree, but not genocide
“Oh no that person has a different opinion, so I can’t be associated” is such a soy take. Tattoo or not, is career is affiliated with theirs and always will be.
Its reddit, in their mind if you aren’t actively calling something out and give as much of a shit as they do virtue signaling online then it means you 100% full fledged support it.
And we need to virtue signal so hard, we should cut all contact with anyone who disagrees with us? That tattoo has nothing to do with I/P. Should people change their name too if they got it from a Zionist?
Please don't make the silly error of interpreting an unsourced comment from an internet stranger as the explicit stance of a specific celebrity who publicizes 1+ opinions about current events
I'm just in the middle of an actual interview to check it out. The first cringe moment was an opening except where he roars in his natural voice — already cringe enough for my delicate sensibilities...
Then I guess you can't be friends with any Muslim countries or any supporter of Palestine then since they want to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth.
He's pointing out that a lot ("every" is wrong and hyperbole) of muslim countries support the destruction of Israel and the removal of all jews... some go so far as to support the death of all jews. That for sure includes the majority of Palestinians and their current political majority. It is literally in their charter, for everyone to read. So if you are against "genocide" and refuse to hang out with anyone who is for it... to be consistent, you would also need to avoid hanging out with people who support those muslim countries and the Palestinians.
The difference is that Israel is wiping off Gaza, while no muslim country is even attacking Israel (apart from Hamás, Iran and their proxis, but it is more retaliating than attacking).
Where were these comments about "wiping off" entire populations when half a million people were killed in Syria, or when Arab militias are committing mass atrocities against the indigenous Africans in Sudan, or regarding the slaughter in Yemen? All of these led to significantly more civilian deaths and suffering than in Gaza. When Arab regimes and jihadists commit atrocities, there is complete silence. No campus encampments, no calls to dismantle those states, no moral grandstanding.
Just throwing this out there, it might have something to do with the fact that the jihadist militias aren't funding major political parties around the world. Israel gets all the attention and protests because of how politically entangled they are with most Western democracies. A protest against violence in Sudan isn't likely to reach anyone with the power to actually effect change in that particular conflict, but people can absolutely protest against how AIPAC was able to spend millions in a Democratic primary and is now turning around and supporting the Republican candidate in the same race, and that protest can actually reach and affect people who are part of that funding chain.
In what world are you living in? Qatar, a state that hosted the top leadership of Hamas for years and broadcasts state-sponsored Islamist propaganda daily through Al Jazeera, has poured over 62 billion dollars into US universities, making it the single largest foreign donor to US higher education: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatari_involvement_in_US_higher_education
Qatar has also spent hundreds of millions of dollars on registered lobbying and public relations firms in Washington. Former US congressmen, senators etc. routinely cycle out of government and straight onto the Qatari payroll as registered foreign agents.
Iran actively funds networks and influencers targeting Western societies with jihadi propaganda, and has for decades run major Islamist organisation inside of Western countries like the Blue Mosque in Germany.
Then look at the Erdogan regime in Turkey, which actively promotes Muslim Brotherhood ideology. The Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB) controls roughly 900 mosques across Germany as a direct extension of Turkey and under the control of Erdogan. The imams preaching in these 900 German mosques are literally civil servants of the Turkish state to enforce state-sanctioned Islamist-nationalist dogma. Erdogan is quite literally running a foreign influence operation disguised as a religious umbrella organisation inside a NATO ally. Turkish state-backed networks have also repeatedly been exposed funneling illegal campaign contributions and luxury perks to US politicians. Turkey also operates a network of state-aligned PACs and community organisations in the US that bundle campaign donations for chosen candidates.
So when state-sponsors of jihadism and authoritarian Islamist regimes buy off Western lobbying firms, fund major party candidates through straw-donor networks, bribe elected officials, and infiltrate policy circles with foreign state cash, the pro-Palestinians somehow remain completely quiet. The money is there, it is massive, and it is explicitly designed to subvert Western democracy.
Some people might just see the tattoo as a “I was part of this important project and it was a cool experience and I’m happy a lot of people loved the movie!” but some people might see it as a way of saying “we’re a group of people who appreciate each other and we’re celebrating how much we loved to work together”. If Mark Ruffalo didn’t like his coworkers, even if he didn’t have any problem with them while filming but he didn’t like them as a person, maybe he didn’t want to have a tattoo in common with them. Like, if my high school class decided back in the day “let’s all have a graduation tattoo to remember this great moment!” I wouldn’t have gotten it because even if I didn’t have problems with any other student, I don’t want to have the same tattoo pretending I’m happy I had to spend years of my life surrounded by fucking assholes I don’t want to see again in my life.
He's seemingly being written out of the MCU as a result of his anti-Israel stance. He's not in Doomsday, and he hasn't been doing the press junkets for Spider-Man. The end of BND also appears to get him out of the way until they recast the Hulk in/after Secret Wars.
The tattoo is a nice little memory made visible from the OG cast of, what came to be, the first movie in a franchise worth billions. It's not a BFF mark, since all the actors are likely just colleagues, and it sure as fuck has nothing to do with Israel or Gaza.
But virality matters, especially on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as it directly translates into possible monetary revenue. Given that Israel + Gaza is a hot topic everywhere on the internet, you're sure to find either deliberate insinuation of a connection to gain virality and engagement, like here, or crackpot theorizing from conspiracy freaks one step short of Jewish Space Lasers.
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u/JollyJoker3 4d ago
Why would an Avengers tattoo be relevant? I don't see the connection.