Cleopatra Was Not Arab, But Twitter is Slamming Israeli Gal Gadot for Playing Her Role in Film

Israeli actress Gal Gadot, who became a household name across the world after she starred as Wonder Woman, is once again in news for reprising yet another historic role. Gadot is set to play the role of the Egyptian princess Cleopatra in the upcoming film set on her life.

Gadot is teaming up with her Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins to play Cleopatra in a period biographical drama scripted by Laeta Kalogridis.

The news of her casting, however, has caused a tonne of outrage on social media. Many have since slammed the Israeli actress's decision to portray an Arab character.

But what is the outrage all about?

Critics claimed that it was unfair for Gadot, an Israeli, to play the role of an Arab historical figure, given the history of contention between Israelis and Arabs. The tensions stem from the Israel-Palestine conflict, the ongoing territorial conflict between the two nations which began in the mid-20th century and has caused immense death and destruction. Critics of Israel have in thep ast slammed the Israeli occupation of the West Bank which has now been ongoing for 53 years now. Egypt, also an Arab country, has also chared contentious history with Israel, culminating in several wars including Yom Kippur War in 1973. It was only after 1979 that the Israel-Egypt peace treaty was formed. Given the history, many have questioned Gadot's move to play the Arab princess instead of an Arab actress playing the role. Some have gone as far as to call her a "zionist".

Accusations of racism

But her Israeli ancestry was not the only bone of contention. Many on social media also claimed that choosing Gadot would lead to a historically inaccurate representation of Cleopatra. Many questioned why the role was not given to a woman of colour such as Zendaya or Lupita Nyongo.

But was Cleaoptra really Arab?

Fans of Gadot and history buffs, however, pointed out that Cleopatra was not Arab at all but Greek. Cleopatra, the last ruling member of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, was indeed not Arab but of Macedonian descent. The Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt descended from the Macedonian-Greek ruler Ptolemy. Macedonians were an ancient Greek tribe. This means Cleopatra was not Arab black, she was the Macedonian Greek ruler of an Arab country.

Is the outrage against Gal Gadot fair?

This is not the first time that Gadot, who became a beauty queen at age 18 in 2004 and then went on to join the Israeli Army, has caused controversy. Gadot joined the Israeli Defence Forces to finish her two years of mandatory military training. In 2014, right before the release of her new DC movie Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, she had stirred controversy as being "pro-IDF" after she shared a post in support of the forces on her Facebook page. She also put up a photograph pf herself and her little daughter praying for the Israeli troops, weeks after Israel launched Operation Protective Edge.

Many on social media also supported Gadot, claiming that the criticism against her was slightly uninformed.

Others, however, reminded the world that despite Cleopatra not being Arab, the support for Gadot must come with a pinch of salt as she does indeed support the IDF.

Others also defended her Greek nationality, claiming that just because she was of Greek descent, made her no less Egyptian than anyone else."The fact that Hollywood keeps on producing movies about Arab history without casting ONE middle eastern actor is so offensive, disgusting and frustrating," a critic wrote on Twitter.