What did Gigi Hadid post about Israel? Alleged antisemitic post controversy explained as Government tears into supermodel

Model Gigi Hadid has reportedly been receiving a lot of backlash over her comments about the Israel-Hamas conflict. Gigi, whose father, Mohamed, is of Palestinian origin, allegedly made an Instagram statement just days after the conflict began on October 7, 2023. The conflict has resulted in the death of over 2000 people.

Rolling Stone reported that Gigi took to Instagram on October 10, 2023, to write a lengthy statement. In it, she condemned the "terrorizing of innocent people," while showing support for her Palestinian and Jewish friends. Gigi Hadid's statement was seemingly neutral, but the Israeli government criticized her previous Instagram story where she shared a post by @consent.wizardry.

"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," the post read.

The post raised a lot of opinions online and some netizens took the post to be antisemitic. While many slammed the model for both posts, there were some people who supported her and stated that they understood where she was coming from.

Disclaimer: The article contains images and mentions of war and violence.

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Gigi Hadid breaks her silence on the Hamas-Israel attacks

Gigi Hadid uploaded an Instagram story last week with a post by @consent.wizardry to say that condemning the Israeli government is not anti-Semitic."

The official Instagram account for the State of Israel issued a response to Hadid’s statement by making an infographic post similar to the one made by @consent. wizardry. They altered the words of the post so that it read that there was "nothing valiant about Hamas' massacre of Israelis."

“Condeming 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," the post continued.

They also made two other posts, condemning Hadid for turning a blind eye to Jewish babies who were being butchered in their homes, and adding, "We see you."

Gigi Hadid soon released a long statement about her thoughts in support of both Israeli and Palestinian civilians. In her statement, made on October 10, 2023, Hadid said:

"While I have hopes and dreams for Palestinians, none of them include the harm of a Jewish person. The terrorizing of innocent people is not in alignment with & does not do any good for the 'Free Palestine' movement."

Gigi Hadid also clarified her thoughts about the reason behind people often misunderstanding a Palestinian supporter as anti-Semitic.

"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," the 28-year-old added.

Gigi Hadid also said that there are "a lot of complex, personal and valid feelings" about the subject. She noted that every human deserves "basic human rights, treatment, and security," regardless of their nationality, religion, ethnicity, or the country they were born in.

She concluded her statement saying that she was aware that her words wouldn't ever be "enough or heal the deep wounds" of the people but added that she is always praying for the safety of innocent lives.

Many other celebrities including Natalie Portman, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Madonna have shared their views about the Israel-Palestine conflict in the past week.

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Details about the Israel-Hamas conflict

Hamas, a Sunni Islamist political and military organization attacked the Souther and central parts of Israel on October 7, 2023. They attacked major cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, as per The New York Times. Their troops infiltrated the borders abducting and killing as many as 1400 civilians.

In turn, the Israel Government's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared a "complete siege" in the Gaza Strip on Monday, October 9, 2023. They cut off the electricity, water, food, and fuel, of more than two million Palestinians.

The area was already under a 16-year blockade and posed severe restrictions on access to safe drinking water, mobility, and electricity. They sent thousands of rockets at the Gaza Strip in response, killing over 2600 Palestinians with Israel still launching air strikes in the territory, as per CNN.