American actor Mark Ruffalo has a long history of supporting the Palestinian cause, particularly through the last month as the Israeli Occupation bombarded Gaza with nonstop airstrikes that left 250 Gazans dead, including 66 children.

Tuesday, however, Ruffalo retracted some of that support, issuing, instead, an apology for his ‘inflammatory’ statements made about the Israeli Occupation.

“I have reflected & wanted to apologize for posts during the recent Israel/Hamas fighting that suggested Israel is committing ‘genocide,’” he tweeted.

“It’s not accurate, it’s inflammatory, disrespectful & is being used to justify antisemitism here & abroad. Now is the time to avoid hyperbole.”

I have reflected & wanted to apologize for posts during the recent Israel/Hamas fighting that suggested Israel is committing “genocide”. It’s not accurate, it’s inflammatory, disrespectful & is being used to justify antisemitism here & abroad. Now is the time to avoid hyperbole.

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) May 25, 2021

Genocide is defined by Oxford as “the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.”

While there is no concrete barometer that differentiates an ethnic cleansing, which is defined as “forced removal or extermination of ethnic, racial and/or religious groups from a given area,” and a genocide, academics have long argued over which best labels the systemic displacement and killings of Palestinians.

However, it was not immediately clear if Ruffalo would support the label of an ‘ethnic cleansing’ either.

It was also not immediately clear why either label could be classified as ‘anti-semitism.'

Palestinians are a semitic people and the condemnation of Zionism is different than that of a condemnation of Judaism. 

However, the Israeli Occupation government has long used the conflation of the two to vilify pro-Palestine activists.