Supermodel Gigi Hadid persists with her anti-Israeli narrative, now manifesting in a novel approach, 69 days since the Hamas massacre and the start of the war. A mere fortnight subsequent to her acknowledgment of lacking detailed knowledge about Middle Eastern affairs and sharing erroneous information, Hadid has once again initiated a campaign, this time via her e-commerce platform. A remark on her Guest In Residence website states, "Free shipping to Israel on all orders above 9,999,999 NIS."
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Following a period of two months marked by provocative statements, Hadid issued a post that conveyed a tone of regret in late November. "As someone of Palestinian descent, the endless heartbreaking news and imagery coming out of Gaza has been painful and often overwhelming," the post read. "It is important to me to share real stories about the hardships that Palestinians have endured and continue to endure, but this weekend I shared something that I did not fact check or deeply think about prior to reposting."
She linked these comments to an incident where she uploaded an image of Ahmad Manasra, a terrorist who, at the tender age of 13 in 2015, attempted to murder Jews in Pisgat Ze'ev and was subsequently apprehended by the State of Israel. Alongside the image, Hadid claimed, "Israel is the only country that holds children as war prisoners."
In a follow-up post where she admitted her error, she expressed, "I wanted to show the ways in which international law is being undermined by the Israeli government. In this case, I was trying to highlight how Palestinian children who are arrested by the IDF are often not given the same rights as an Israeli child accused of the same crime would." Nevertheless, Hadid unexpectedly apologized, stating, "Unfortunately, I used the wrong example to make that point and I regret that."
For years, Hadid, alongside her sister Bella, has been vocal in her stance against Israel, consistently sharing anti-Zionist content and advocating for the Palestinian cause. While their actions were previously met with indifference or ridicule until October 7, the past two months have revealed the profound and detrimental impact their publications can have on Israel's image in the eyes of the international community.
With Gigi Hadid boasting 79.1 million followers and her sister 61.1 million on Instagram, they take pride in broadcasting their stance, which is rooted in resistance to Israel. The Hadid sisters have a deep familial tie to the issue; though born in Los Angeles, their father, Mohamed Hadid, was born in Nazareth in 1948. Shortly after his birth, his family fled to Lebanon and then to Syria amidst regional turmoil. He has recounted in an interview, "An Israeli family that we gave shelter to took over our house and expelled us from it."