DUBAI: This week, The New York Times ran a full page ad that condemned part-Palestinian models Gigi and Bella Hadid and British-Albanian popstar Dua Lipa for showing solidarity with the people of Palestine.
“Bella, Gigi and Dua, Hamas calls for a second holocaust. Condemn them now (sic),” read the headline of the advertisement, which took the form of a letter to the three prominent stars. The advert was organized, produced and paid for by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the head of the World Values Network.
The ad, which ran on Saturday in the main section of the newspaper, named Lipa and the Hadid sisters as “mega-influencers” who have “accused Israel of ethnic cleansing” and “vilified the Jewish State.”
The “Levitating” hitmaker took to her social media to set the record straight and slam the organization for alleging that she is anti-Semitic for her pro-Palestine stance.
“I utterly reject the false and appalling allegations that were published in The New York Times advertisement taken out by the World Values Network,” she wrote in a lengthy text shared with her Twitter and Instagram followers.
“This is the price you pay for defending Palestinian human rights against an Israeli government whose actions in Palestine both Human Rights Watch and the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem accuse of persecution and discrimination,” she added.
“I take this stance because I believe that everyone — Jews, Muslims and Christians — have the right to live in peace as equal citizens of a state they choose,” Lipa wrote.
The “Levitating” hitmaker took to her social media to set the record straight and slam the organization for alleging that she is anti-Semitic for her pro-Palestine stance. (Instagram)
The popstar, who is dating Gigi and Bella’s younger brother Anwar Hadid, stated that the World Values Network used her name “shamelessly” to “advance their ugly campaign with falsehoods.”
She concluded by saying: “I stand in solidarity with all the oppressed people and reject all forms of racism.”
Tensions spiked in the area in May due to Israel’s bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza after IDF forces stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque and settlers attempted to forcibly evict families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem.
The death toll from the Israeli aerial campaign against Gaza, which ended after a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, has risen to 248, including 66 children and 39 women, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Friday.
Many celebrities have taken to social media to post pro-Palestinian messages, including singers Zayn Malik and The Weeknd as well as actor Mark Ruffalo.
