Supermodel compares Russian invasion of Ukraine to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, sparking backlash after major fashion magazine reposts her comments.
By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
Prominent fashion magazine Vogue walked back a caption on its Instagram feed, which had reposted remarks from model Gigi Hadid comparing Ukrainians to Palestinians.
Hadid, whose father Mohamed is a millionaire real estate developer originally from the northern Galilee region during the pre-State era, has repeatedly spoken out against Israel.
On Monday, Vogue reposted a statement by Hadid in which she announced she would be donating her salary from Fall 2022 fashion shows “to aid those suffering from the war in Ukraine, as well as continuing to support those experiencing the same in Palestine. Our eyes and hearts must be open to all human injustice. Hands off Ukraine. Hands off Palestine.”
The statement immediately drew backlash from celebrities and social media users slamming Hadid for conflating the Russian invasion of Ukraine with Israel and blasting Vogue for reposting the comparison.
“Gigi Hadid and other social media personalities are now hijacking the Russian invasion of Ukraine to promote propaganda about Israel,” Israeli actress Noa Tishby said in a video she posted to her Twitter profile.
“Ukraine is not Palestine, and Israel is not Russia. Russia launched an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine to place it under Russian influence… People like Gigi Hadid only harm the real victims, the people of Ukraine, and they help flame anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiments all over the world.”
“I can’t believe @voguemagazine is supporting this false and dangerous narrative.. ‘experiencing the same in Palestine’ well done @voguemagazine fanning the flames of antisemitism,” wrote Emmanuelle Chriqui, a Canadian actress of Moroccan-Jewish descent.
On Tuesday, Vogue quietly updated its caption to remove the references to Palestinians in Hadid’s remarks.
An unnamed Vogue staffer told the New York Post that the outlet “condemns antisemitism” and that their Instagram post was “directly quoting [Hadid]” and has since “been updated.”
Hadid’s sister Bella, also a model, claimed that Instagram censored her as part of an anti-Palestinian conspiracy in July 2020.
She had posted a photo of her father’s American passport, which listed his place of birth as Palestine, and was subsequently deleted by the social media platform.
But a statement from Instagram revealed that the deletion was not part of a nefarious plan to silence Palestinians.
Rather, Instagram explained that the photo Hadid had posted contained sensitive information, including her father’s passport number, alongside his full name and date of birth, which the public platform does not allow to be shared.