August 5, 2024
For years, Palestinian-American supermodel Bella Hadid has been vocal about her anti-Israel views. While criticism of Israel is perfectly legitimate in public discourse, Hadid’s comments have often crossed the line, as she posts content that demonizes Israel and is antisemitic on her social media channels with millions of followers.
Most recently, she received extra attention with the marketing catastrophe of Adidas’ “SL72” campaign, for which she modeled. The German sportswear company relaunched its retro sneakers inspired by the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where 11 Israeli athletes and a coach were killed by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September.
American Jewish Committee wrote on X: “For Adidas to pick a vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory. Neither is acceptable.”
After facing extreme backlash, Adidas dropped Hadid from the campaign. Following that, Hadid hired attorneys to take action against Adidas “for their lack of public accountability” for putting out a campaign that “would associate anyone with the death and violence of what took place at the 1972 Munich Games.” In late July, Hadid further said that she would have “never participated” in the campaign had she known, and that she “does not believe in hate in any form, including antisemitism.”
This isn’t the first time Adidas has drawn controversy over cultural insensitivity and antisemitism. In 2022, Adidas dropped its longtime partnership with rapper Kanye West only after facing widespread pressure because of his series of antisemitic remarks.
Despite Hadid’s response in late July in which she said she “does not believe in hate in any form, including antisemitism,” she has a long history of sharing anti-Israel and antisemitic conspiracy theories online. Here are four examples below.
“From the River to the Sea”
During a rally in May 2021 for “Nakba Day” — an Arabic term meaning catastrophe, which many pro-Palestininian protestors use to mark Israel’s Independence Day in 1948 —Hadid was seen chanting the phrase “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.”
Explained: “From the River to the Sea” is a catch-all phrase that calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, erasing the State of Israel and its people. It is a rallying cry for terrorist groups and their sympathizers, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to Hamas. Since October, 7, the phrase has become a common call-to-arms for pro-Palestinian activists, especially student activists on college campuses. Calling for the elimination of the Jewish state, praising Hamas or other entities who call for Israel’s destruction, or suggesting that the Jews alone do not have the right to self-determination threatens the safety of Jewish people around the world students and is antisemitic.
“Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza.”
Many times, Hadid has written personal social media posts or reposted content from others that falsely claim that Israel is committing a genocide. In May, Hadid posted a photo in a red keffiyeh dress and wrote, “please educate yourself on the on going occupation and genocide that is happening RIGHT NOW in Gaza.” Several weeks prior, she posted a graphic that wrote “Stop genocide.”
Explained: The claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is completely false and does nothing but demonize Israel and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as seeking to intentionally harm Palestinian civilians while ignoring their mission to release hostages and dismantle Hamas after its October 7 attack. We mourn the loss of any innocent Palestinian life, but the genocide claim is deeply offensive and dangerous.
"Israel illegally imprisons and tortures children."
Hadid’s claim about Israel being the only country to keep children as prisoners of war is factually incorrect and holds Israel to a double standard.
Hadid’s post is especially ironic and offensive because Hamas still holds more than 100 innocent civilians hostage, including two children, in Gaza after they were brutally kidnapped on Oct. 7 — among them is a one-year-old baby boy.
Hadid also posted a picture of Ahmad Manasra, who stabbed two Israelis near Jerusalem when he was 13 years old, along with his 15-year-old cousin Hassan Khalid Manasra. While Hassan died on the scene after being shot by a police officer, Ahmed was taken into custody.
"Ahmed Manasra, abducted by the Israeli occupation at the age of 12, has endured solitary confinement despite his severe health condition. Hundreds of Palestinian children remain detained. Suffering in Israeli jails," Hadid wrote. On an Instagram story, she continued to falsely claim, "abduction, rape, humiliation, torture, murder of Palestinians," in what she said happened "years and years before Oct 7 2023."
Explained: Hadid obscured the details of Hassan's story. Israel's detainment and prosecution of criminals, including murderers, is lawful, not abusive. The Palestinian children Hadid is referring to have committed crimes that would be punished through the legal system of any other country. Beyond that, Hadid has not called on Hamas to release the innocent hostages, which include children, stripped from their families in Israel. According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, “Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation” is a modern example of antisemitism related to the State of Israel. For Hadid, Israel is judged differently and held to a different standard than other democratic nations.
“Hamas treated the hostages nicely.”
In June, Hadid reposted an infographic on her Instagram story that pictured freed hostage Almog Meir and said, “Released Israeli captive revealed that Hamas made him a birthday cake during captivity.” In reality, a clinical nutritionist at the Sheba Medical Center said that Almog, along with the three other hostages freed by the IDF in the same mission, lost extreme amounts of muscle mass, was incredibly underfed, and suffered from severe malnutrition.
Similarly, Hadid posted a video with clips from an interview with nine-year-old released Israeli hostage Ohad Munder. She concluded that Hamas treats Israeli hostages better than Israel treats Palestinian detainees.
Explained: There is no excuse for belittling the heinous crimes of Hamas terrorists during and in the aftermath of October 7, and equating them with the actions of the Israeli military or police is delusional at best. The deliberate murder, abduction, and kidnapping of innocent civilians are deemed war crimes that are absolutely prohibited by international law. Since October 7, Hamas has egregiously defied international law by refusing to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross and relevant UN bodies any access to the hostages. Many hostages that have been released or rescued by Israeli forces have detailed the psychological, physical, and sexual abuse they endured under Hamas captivity. Andrey Kozlov, 27, who was among four hostages rescued by Israel Special Forces in Gaza last month, recently described the abuses he endured. In addition to being tied up and blindfolded at times, Kozlov recalled seeing his captors with large knives and being told that he would be filmed in a propaganda video and then murdered.
