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Vogue slammed for removing 'Palestine' from Gigi Hadid's donation pledge: 'Utterly shameless'

Gigi Hadid pledged to donate her earnings from fall runway shows 'to aid those suffering from the war' in both Ukraine and Palestine

Vogue magazine is facing backlash for editing the word 'Palestine' out of an Instagram post as it praised Palestinian-Dutch model Gigi Hadid's pledge to donate all of her Fashion Month earnings to the people in Ukraine and Palestine. On Sunday, March 6, Gigi Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, announced on Instagram that she would donate her earnings from fall runway shows to those suffering from the war in both Ukraine and Palestine.

Gigi Hadid wrote, "Following in the footsteps of my friend [Mica Arganaraz], I am pledging to donate my earnings from Fall 2022 shows to aid those suffering from the war in Ukraine, as well as continuing to support those experiencing the same in Palestine." The supermodel said, "Our eyes and hearts must be open to all human injustice" before concluding, "HANDS OFF UKRAINE. HANDS OFF PALESTINE. PEACE. PEACE. PEACE." 

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Vogue had originally reported on her efforts, mentioning that Gigi Hadid was donating her money to both countries, but soon after, the magazine was accused of "fanning the flames of anti-Semitism" by StopAntisemitism.org. One day later, Vogue's Instagram post had no mention of Palestine, saying Hadid was just contributing to the Ukraine relief efforts. But, after facing backlash yet again, it has now added Palestine with an Editor's Note saying: "We have updated this caption to accurately reflect Gigi Hadid's statement on her donation."

Despite deleting and adding back the word 'Palestine', prominent figures and social media users criticized Vogue for its duplicity and involvement in the racism against Palestinians. One wrote, "So @GiGiHadid announced that she will be donating money to Ukraine & Palestine. @voguemagazine posted about this & edited it shortly after removing the word Palestine. This is erasure 101. And if this happens to Gigi, imagine what happens to the rest of us." Another added, "Yet another example confirming that actual cancel culture and censorship can routinely be seen in media discussion of Palestine - in this case the very word itself was pulled by @voguemagazine. Utterly shameless."

Palestinian activist Mohammed El-Kurd called out the publication stating that "a mainstream media outlet has literally erased and obstructed the facts of a news item because Zionists did not like it. So much for journalistic integrity and ethics." A social media user drew attention to the "shameful" nature of Vogue's "whitewashing of Israeli Apartheid," stating that #PalestinianLivesMatter as well, even if they "do not make your pages and covers". Another noted the irony of using Hadid's Instagram post to "drive traffic and views and then changing it because Israeli keyboard warriors were tasked with calling you antisemitic," before adding that "Israel has been working overtime since the @amnestyuk report was published."

This is not the first time the Hadid family has been subjected to online censorship for their views on Palestine. In 2020, Bella Hadid called out Instagram for removing one of her posts, where she shared a photo of her father’s passport, highlighting the place of birth, which read: "Palestine". Speaking about the incident she said, "You can’t erase the history by silencing people. It doesn’t work like that."