Gigi Hadid criticised by Israel on Instagram over post supporting Palestine

17 October, 2023

Gigi Hadid

Gigi Hadid has been criticised by the State of Israel Instagram page after she shared a post about the Israel-Hamas war.

The model, who is of Palestinian descent, shared a graphic to her Instagram Story earlier this week, which read: “There is nothing Jewish about the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians. Condemning the Israeli government is not antisemitic and supporting Palestinians is not supporting Hamas.”

In response, the State of Israel page shared Hadid’s post on their own Instagram Story, writing: “Have you been sleeping the past week? Or are you just fine turning a blind eye to Jewish babies being butchered in their homes? Your silence has been very clear about where you stand. We see you.”

The page also shared a reworked version of the same graphic. “There is nothing valiant about Hamas’ massacre of Israelis,” the altered text read. “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.”

It comes after Hadid previously posted about the Israel-Hamas war last week, where she expressed her “deep empathy and heartbreak for the Palestinian struggle” in a post to her 79million followers.

“My thoughts are with all those affected by this unjustifiable tragedy, and every day that innocent lives are taken by this conflict – too many of which are children,” Hadid wrote. “I have deep empathy and heartbreak for the Palestinian struggle and life under occupation, it’s a responsibility I hold daily.

“I also feel a responsibility to my Jewish friends to make it clear, as I have before: While I have hopes and dreams for Palestinians, none of them include the harm of a Jewish person.

“The terrorising of innocent people is not in alignment with & does not do any good for the ‘Free Palestine’ movement. The idea that it does has fueled a painful, decades-long cycle of back & forth retaliation (which no innocent civilian, Palestinian or Israeli, deserves to be a casualty of), and helps perpetuate the false idea that being Pro-Palestine = antisemitic.”

She added: “If you are hurting, as I share my condolences today with my loved ones, both Palestinian and Jewish, I’m sending you my love & strength whoever and wherever you are.”

Hamas militants murdered a reported 260 attendees at music festival Supernova Sukkot Gathering on Saturday, October 7, as part of a string of terror attacks across Israel. The organisers of the festival recently released a statement over the “unspeakable tragedy”.

Following the Hamas’ assault, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip where 2.2million people live. It means that water, electricity and food has been cut off to the Palestinian territory from which the Hamas’ invasion was launched.

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