Pete Davidson Weighs In on Israel-Hamas Conflict During SNL Debut: A Message of Compassion
4 min read
Screenshot via SNL
Pete Davidson stops to consider the ongoing war involving Israel and Palestine. Davidson, 29, made his Saturday Night Live hosting debut on Saturday’s season 49 premiere, which was addressing the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’ surprise assault on Israel last Saturday, which murdered hundreds of civilians. “We saw those awful photos & pictures first this week.” And I understand what you’re thinking: “Who better to weigh in on it than Pete Davidson?” started the actor & comedian’s cold open. “In many ways, “I am probably the most appropriate person to speak about this due to the fact that my father died in a terrorist attack when I was just 7 years old.” “So I am aware of what that’s like,” Davidson explained.
Pete Davidson comments on Israel: “When I was 7 years old, my dad was killed in a terrorist attack.”
— Garin Pirnia (@gpirnia) October 15, 2023
“But sometimes, comedy is the only way through tragedy.” #SNL pic.twitter.com/he3xmugHqS
“I witnessed a lot of terrible photographs this week of kids’s sufferings — Israeli kids as well as Palestinian children,” he explained. And that sent me back to a truly horrific, terrible place, and absolutely nobody in this world, especially children, ought to go through something like that.” Following last Saturday’s unforeseen attacks, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared that Israel is “putting an all-out siege on Gaza” in a video address broadcast on X (previously known as Twitter), referring to it as a “total blockade.” According to UNRWA, around 1.7 million of Gaza’s 2.1 million people are Palestinian refugees. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), approximately 123,000 Palestinians have been evacuated from Gaza since the conflict began on Saturday.
Pete Davidson opens SNL with cold open about Israel and Palestine.
— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 15, 2023
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SNL Host Pete Davidson Speaks Out Against Hamas’ Attack On Israel: “No One In This World Deserves To Suffer”
“Saturday Night Live” has returned after a five-month hiatus, but it began on a somewhat sombre tone, despite having gone so long without a chuckle. NBC’s sketch comedy institution, which had been off the air since April due to a strike by the Writers Guild of America, returns Saturday with previous cast member Pete Davidson as host. While there were plenty of jokes about the NFL and Davidson himself, the programme began on a more serious note. Davidson began the show by speaking straight to the camera about the Israel-Hamas conflict and the outbreak of violence that has dominated the news this week. “We saw horrific pictures and accounts from both Gaza and Israel this week.” And you’re probably thinking, ‘Who better to make a comment about it than Pete Davidson?’ In many respects, I am an amazing individual to talk about the fact my father perished in a terrorist attack when I was just seven years old. So I am aware of what that’s like,” he said, referring to his father’s passing as a New York City fireman in the Sept. 11 attacks. “I witnessed numerous terrible photographs this week of children’s pain and suffering, Israeli and Palestinian children, that it transported me back to an awful, horrible place.”
Nobody deserves to suffer in our world, especially children.” Davidson went on to say: “After my father died, my mother tried basically everything she could to cheer me up.” When I was 8, my mother bought me a present that she believed was a Disney DVD, but it was apparently the Eddie Murphy standup special called ‘Delirious.’ On the way home, we played it in our car, and as soon as she heard what Eddie Murphy was uttering, she attempted to take it away. “When she saw that I was having fun again for the first time in quite some time, she was quite delighted,” Davidson said. “I don’t get it, I really don’t, and I rarely will, yet at times comedy is the only way out of tragedy.” My thoughts are with everybody whose lives have been shattered this week. But tonight, in the face of a tragic tale, I’m going to do what I have often done: attempt to be amusing. Remember that I stated, “try.” It’s also Saturday night in New York!” Following the credits, Davidson resorted to his usual style of crass, realistic humor with a monologue involving incest, drug addiction, and death, particularly in his native borough of Staten Island.
"No one in the world deserves to suffer like that but especially not kids."
— 𝐒𝐮𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚🕊️❥𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖓✰ᵇᵘⁿⁿʸ✰ (@Suvarna_17) October 15, 2023
This is worth a watch as we watch an international crisis unfold the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time. Pete Davidson was a great choice to deliver this message considering his childhood.
pete davidson going from giving fairly okay statement on israel-palestine to making incest jokes about his sister was a wild five minutes
— Vikas ⚡ (@thunderxstorm07) October 15, 2023
