Is Bella Hadid canceled? Model slammed for cartoon saying 'Israel colonized Palestine', Internet calls it 'biased'
With an anti-Semitic Instagram post, supermodel sisters Bella and Gigi Hadid have enraged many in the Israeli community. Bella, 24, and Gigi, 26, have both expressed their support for the Palestinian cause and have participated in marches and protests. Bella posted an Instagram post on Tuesday as the Middle East crisis intensified, attempting to describe the conflict in her own words. Here's what's to know.
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Hadid's comments came as Israel's president warned of a civil war between the country's Arabs and Jews on Wednesday, as anger and fear over shelling exchanges with Palestinian militants in Gaza erupted into violence on Israeli streets. The posts put the situation in a highly subjective manner, and critics responded immediately.
"You speak as if you know what you are talking about. Inform yourself please," the Mail quoted one woman as saying. "So many factual incorrect things here," said another. "Go read a book," a third chipped in. Another said: "This is wildly biased."
What did the cartoon say?
In the cartoon, a woman is telling her friend: "There is no 'fighting'. There is only Israeli colonisation, ethnic cleansing, military occupation, and apartheid," and "When I say 'Israel', I am referring to a group of people, a group of settlers, who are colonising Palestine."
"So aren't Israelis and Palestinians fighting over religion?" the woman asks her friend in the first image of the eight-slide set. The friend then responds with a vehemently political retort. The woman claims that there is no 'fighting,' despite the fact that Hamas fired rockets at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem early Thursday, as it has done every day this week since Monday. The woman 'explains' that the Middle East was completely calm prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948, oblivious to the battles fought by the Phoenicians, Romans, Caliphate, and Ottomans.
Hadid's post was accompanied by text that read: "There is NO place for this !!! Especially in 2021!!!! it has always been #freepalestine . ALWAYS. I have a lot to say about this but for now , please read and educate yourself. This is not about religion. This is not about spewing hate on one or the other. This is about Israeli colonization , ethnic cleansing , military occupation and apartheid over the Palestinian people that has been going on for YEARS!"
She added: "I stand with my Palestinian brothers and sisters , I will protect and support you as best as I can. I LOVE YOU. I have been told my entire life that who I am : a Palestinian woman - is not real. I’ve been told my father does not have a birth place if he is from Palestine. And I am here to say . Palestine is very much real and the Palestinian people are here to stay and coexist. As they always have."
The supermodel was well aware that she was exposing herself to anti-Semitism charges: pro-Israel supporters frequently argue that supporting Palestine is inherently anti-Semitic because it calls into question the Jewish state's right to exist, and thus is anti-all Jews. Responding, she said: "I want to make this very clear," Hadid wrote. "Hate from either side is not okay - I do not condone it!! I will not stand to hear people talk badly about Jewish people through all of this. This is about HUMANITY not about religion !!!! This is about freedom in Palestine."