'Only When It's Palestine-Based': Bella Hadid Claims She Was 'Shadow Banned' by Instagram Stories
Bella Hadid responded to a story about more than 150 Palestinians reportedly injured during clashes with Israeli police, who raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque, saying that “the nation state of Israel attacks, kills and injuries (sic) Palestinians while they pray during the whole month of Ramadan in their homeland as they have for centuries”.
SputnikSupermodel Bella Hadid claims she has been “shadow banned” on Instagram* Stories over clips related to the brewing tensions between Palestinians and Israeli police in Jerusalem.
“My Instagram has disabled me from posting on my story - pretty much only when it is Palestine based I'm going to assume”, wrote 25-year-old Hadid, who is of Dutch and Palestinian descent, on the social media site, posting a shot of her with a teary eye.
“When I post about Palestine I get immediately shadow banned and almost 1 million less of you see my stories and posts”, continued Hadid,
sharing a screengrab illustrating restrictions on her account.
The model, who boasts 51 million followers, captioned the shot with, “Won't let me repost…for 2 hours now”.
According to Hadid, two posts she was “trying to re-post from Eye On Palestine all day” and had written “long messages” about were “the only ones that are not uploading”.
The young woman, voted "Model of the Year" by industry professionals for Models in 2016, shared multiple frames of posts that appeared to defy her attempts to upload them to her Instagram Stories.
19 February 2022, 07:13 GMT
Hadid also weighed in on the current flare-up of tensions in the Middle East amid the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
The American model shared a clip appearing to show Israeli forces at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem - the third holiest site in Islam.
“Posting this video directly after… Let's be reminded that this land is some of the most holy soil in the world. Where Jesus was born. Where every religion has a place to call home. To pray. To be. To live. (Not at all safely as you can see.) With mosques, synagogues, churches…… But to do this to only one group, during prayer on the holy month of Ramadan is just truly sick in the head”, wrote Hadid.
Bella Hadid also commented on Palestinian media reports that around 152 Palestinians had
sustained injuries during Friday’s clashes with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The Israeli police raided the mosque, where thousands of Palestinians were performing a dawn prayer on the second Friday of Ramadan, and resorted to rubber bullets, noise bombs, and tear gas to disperse the crowd, according to the Palestine Red Crescent.
It added that overall, some 344 Palestinians were injured in the Friday clashes with Israeli forces in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Some Palestinians were said to have barricaded themselves inside the mosque, lobbing rocks at officers. Three police officers were slightly hurt.
After the clashes, Israeli security forces took control of the situation on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem.
According to Bella Hadid, “the nation state of Israel attacks, kills and injuries (sic) Palestinians while they pray during the whole month of Ramadan in their homeland as they have for centuries”.
The young woman added that “Palestine has always been a haven for the three pillar religions, however the nation state of Israel will only allow Judaism to be practiced”.
Hadid also reposted a clip from Eye On Palestine that appeared to show a Palestinian woman being attacked by an Israeli soldier.
“Most Israelis do not have a choice to be in the IDF… What they do have, is the choice to be royally not be royally horrific like this man. In what world is this OK? In what country, state, planet!!!!!” wrote Hadid.
The model lashed out at those suggesting that “Palestinians are the problem”, pointing out that they had been “abused, dismantled, humiliated on a regular basis” ever since her father was born in 1948.
“If you can't see a problem here within the government and their army, again, you are the problem”, concluded Bella Hadid.
Israeli security forces have been on high alert throughout the past few weeks amid a deteriorating security situation in Israel, including four terror attacks that resulted in the killing of 14 people since 22 March.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a tweet:
“We are working to restore calm, on the Temple Mount and across Israel. Alongside that, we are preparing for any scenario and the security forces are ready for any task”.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, referring to the violence at the holy compound, said it “holds Israel fully and directly responsible for this crime and its consequences”.
*Instagram is banned in Russia over extremist activity.