“I fear for ALL women”

• The 46-year-old Oscar winner tweeted that she is “a woman who fears for the women in this world.”
• Some users countered that she had not previously declared support for Palestinian women.
• Chastain defended her record of humanitarianism in a series of tweets.

Jessica Chastain defended herself on Twitter on Tuesday after receiving pushback over comments she made about reports of torture and sexual abuse amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“I am a woman who fears for the women in this world,” the 46-year-old Oscar-winning actress tweeted. “Sexual violence against women should never be justified. This is an inhumane act.”

After a Twitter user told Chastain, “Also fear for Palestinian women and young girls…”, she said, “I fear for ALL women.”

Another user asked the Zero Dark Thirty actress, “Why are you only bringing this up now,” to which she defended her track record of humanitarianism.

“I supported women all over the world,” said the Sacramento, California-based star. “I marched with them in Poland. I spoke about their difficulties on television and on social media.”

Chastain continued: “My greatest desire in life is to protect women from violence. Please don’t let knee-jerk conclusions divide us.”

The “Memento” actress continued to defend herself despite pushback, including from a user who shared a meme of Chastain expressing skepticism about her feelings with the caption, “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Another user posted a clip of Chastain explaining how she trained with a former Israel Defense Forces soldier for her 2010 film The Debt.

Chastain denied that the clip supported her political views on the topic.

“This video is about preparation for a film I made over 10 years ago,” she said. “I played a woman hunting a Nazi war criminal in the 1960s. It had nothing to do with Palestine.”

Chastain shared more information about her preparation for the film, which also stars Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington and Tom Wilkinson.

“I studied the martial arts of Krav Maga with an Israeli in Los Angeles for a film where I fought a Nazi, not a Palestinian,” she said. “Then I did a move from the movie when Graham attacked me with a banana during the late night show.”

She continued, “Context is not what anyone really cares about on this app, so I’ve never worried about it until now, but I am concerned about the cruel narrative created for ‘likes,’ so I’m clarifying the situation.”

Chastain said the release of this particular making-of video was misleading compared to other projects she has worked on.

“There are other videos from that time that claim I’m a pacifist, which is very different from the character I played, but unfortunately ‘pacifist’ videos don’t tend to go viral,” she said.

Chastain also shared a clip of Iranian human rights activist and Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi with the quote: “But if you are a human being, tell me, is there anything worse than killing a human being?” Although the holy text of the Koran states that if someone innocent is killed, it is tantamount to the fact that the entire world society will be killed.”