The Israeli far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has found himself embroiled in a war of words with international supermodel Bella Hadid after she criticized his recent televised comments regarding Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The controversy stems from an interview Ben-Gvir gave to the Israeli Channel 12 earlier in the week, during which he argued that his right to freedom of movement as a Jewish settler takes precedence over the same right for Palestinians. “My right, the right of my wife and my children to move around the West Bank, is more important than freedom of movement for the Arabs,” Ben-Gvir asserted on the program. He further stated, “The right to life comes before freedom of movement.”
Hadid, a renowned supermodel and influential figure with Palestinian heritage, shared a segment from Ben-Gvir’s interview with her vast Instagram following, which exceeds 60 million users. Alongside the clip, she posted a powerful message: “In no place, no time, especially in 2023 should one life be more valuable than another’s. Especially simply because of their ethnicity, culture, or pure hatred.”
In a bid to draw attention to her point, Hadid also uploaded a video from the prominent Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. The video featured Israeli occupation forces in Hebron, a southern city in the West Bank, informing a resident that certain streets were off-limits to Palestinians, reserved only for Jewish use. Hadid accompanied the video with a thought-provoking query: “Does this remind anyone of anything?”
In response, Ben-Gvir took to social media, posting a message in Hebrew to address Hadid directly. “I saw that yesterday you took an excerpt from an interview I gave and put it out to the whole world to try and portray me as racist and backward,” he stated defiantly. “I don’t apologize or take back my comments. I will repeat them 1,000 times.”
The incident has garnered widespread attention, sparking discussions not only about the statements made by the Israeli minister but also about the broader issues of discrimination and inequality faced by Palestinians. The West Bank is home to about 2.8 million Palestinians, where also more than 650,000 Jewish settlers live in settlements that are considered illegal under international law.
Bella Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, was born in the United States, giving her a unique perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her decision to use her platform to address these issues has ignited conversations on social media and beyond, shedding light on the power and responsibility of public figures to engage in discussions of global significance.
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