Palestinian children are not given same rights as Israeli: Gigi Hadid
Palestinian-American supermodel Gigi Hadid issued a statement after facing outrage on social media on her recent comments on the Israel-Hamas war.
“As someone of Palestinian descent, the endless heartbreaking news and imagery coming out of Gaza has been painful and often overwhelming. It is important for 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.”
“I want 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 crime would. Unfortunately, I used the wrong example to make that point that I did and I regret that.”
Hadid has also called on activists to keep Jews safe while advocating for Palestinians. “I also want to reiterate that attacking any human, which of course includes Jewish people, is NEVER OK. Taking innocent people hostage is NEVER OK. Harming someone BECAUSE they are Jewish is NEVER OK,” she wrote.
“To want freedom and humane treatment for Palestinians and to also want safety for Jewish people can both be important to the same person.
“No Matter the crime, when speaking about democracy, everyone should have the same rights – and a Palestinian child, even if he is accused of a horrific crime, deserves the same rights that an Israeli would have under the same circumstances.”
“It is well documented, by credible human rights organizations, that there has been a systematic mistreatment of the Palestinian people by the government of Israel.”
Hadid said she doesn’t standing behind the spreading of misinformation and have condemned using the Free Palestine movement as justification of anti-semiticism. She added to pray for the safe return of all hostages and peace and safe for the people of Gaza and Israel.
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In a now-deleted Instagram post, Hadid said that Israel had killed, tortured, raped, abducted, and humiliated Palestinians ‘years and years and years’ before Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7.
She wrote that Israel is the “only country in the world” keeping children as prisoners of war. Her original post included a photo of Ahmed Mansara, who Israeli police arrested at age 13 after the Palestinian and his brother stabbed a 20-year-old security guard and 13-year-old boy. He received a sentence of 12 years in prison and it was later reduced to 9.5 years.
Her post further claimed the “Israel occupation” abducted and subjected Almanasra to solitary confinement despite his “severe health condition,” while also alleging “hundreds of Palestinian children remain detained, suffering in Israeli jails.”
She also shared a video on her Instagram that claimed Israelis have long harvested the organs of dead Palestinians without their consent. The video claims that “health officials admitted that Israeli authorities had harvested the organs of dead Palestinians for years without their consent.”
Hadid and her younger sister Bella, also a famous model, have harshly critiqued Israel in posting about the Israel-Hamas war, which started on October 7. Hadid’s stance stirred outrage on social media, and several users demanded that her modelling agency, IMG, terminate her contract.