Hamas’s savage terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 sparked not only a war in the Middle East, but also a surge of animosity and online abuse in countries all over the globe. Shocking opinions have been voiced by many in response to the atrocity. Gigi Hadid, a model, is the most recent celebrity to get into trouble for making controversial remarks about the issue.
Gigi Hadid is one of the highest-paid and most famous models in the industry. Her father’s family is originally from Palestine. She demonstrated in 2017 against Trump’s travel ban on people of states that sponsor terrorism against the United States. Hadid has a long history of balancing her career as a model and actress with political engagement; she is a staunch leftist who received backlash last year for likening the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She has now gone much further, drawing the ire of the Jewish State.
On October 14, Hadid shared a meme on Instagram; the post carried a message claiming “There is nothing Jewish about the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians,” and argued that opposing Israel isn’t anti-Semitic and supporting the Palestinians isn’t being pro-Hamas. The Israeli government’s Instagram account responded the next day with its own meme, reading: “Condemning Hamas for what it is (ISIS) is not anti-Palestine and supporting Israelis in their fight against barbaric terrorists is the right thing to do.” To drive home the message even further, Israel quickly followed up with a second picture showing the blood-spattered floor of a slain Israeli child’s bedroom, with the caption telling Hadid that if she didn’t condemn this, “your words mean NOTHING.”
However, some left-wing activists have taken the side of the Palestinians since before Israel retaliated, casting doubt on their assertions that they are pro-Palestinian but not pro-Hamas. Most Western countries were quick to defend Israel’s right to self-defense after the slaughter.
