Supermodel Bella Hadid broke her silence on Monday about being featured in a controversial Adidas campaign that referenced the 1972 massacre at the Munich Olympics, where 11 Israelis were murdered by Palestinian terrorists.

“For those of you that do not know my heart, I want to make sure you’re hearing directly from me about my recent campaign with Adidas,” she began by saying in a lengthy statement posted on her Instagram Story. The founder of the Orebella perfume, who is also an avid critic of the state of Israel, added that she “would never knowingly engage with any art or work that is linked to a horrific tragedy of any kind.”

“In advance of the campaign’s release, I had no knowledge of the historical connection to the atrocious events in 1972,” she explained. “I am shocked, I am upset, and I am disappointed in the lack of sensitivity that went into this campaign. Had I been made aware, from the bottom of my heart, I would never have participated. My team should have known, Adidas should have known, and I should have done more research so that I too would have known and understood, and spoken up.”

Earlier this month, Adidas released a new campaign, featuring Hadid, for its iconic SL 72 sneaker. The sneaker was originally released in 1972 and used that year by athletes at the Munich Olympic Games, where the Palestinian terrorist group Black September murdered 11 members of Israel’s Olympic team after taking them hostage.

Hadid has participated in anti-Israel rallies where she chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and for it to be replaced with a Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. She has previously accused Israel of “colonization, ethnic cleansing, military occupation, and apartheid over the Palestinian people.” She has advocated for a “Free Palestine,” and since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, she has repeatedly expressed solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

After Adidas was criticized for choosing the anti-Israel model as a face of the new campaign, the German sportswear company pulled her from the project. Adidas also issued two apologies regarding the matter — one directed at Hadid herself — and said it would “revise” its campaign. Hadid had not commented on the ordeal until Monday. She said in the statement on her Instagram Story that she “always will speak up for what I believe to be wrong.”

“While everyone’s intentions were to make something positive, and bring people together through art, the collective lack of understanding from all parties undermined the process,” she said of the Adidas campaign. “I do not believe in hate in any form, including antisemitism. That will never waiver, and I stand by that statement to the fullest extent.”

“Connecting the liberation of the Palestinian people to an attack so tragic is something that hurts my heart. Palestine is not synonymous with terrorism, and this campaign unintentionally highlighted an event that does not present who we are,” she continued. The model concluded by saying that she is a “proud Palestinian woman” who “will forever stand by my people of Palestine while continuing to advocate for a world free of antisemitism.”

“Antisemitism has no place in the liberation of the Palestinian people,” she said. “I will always stand for peace over violence, any day. Hate has no place here, and I will forever advocate for not only my people, but every person worldwide.”

Hadid’s sister is fellow model Gigi Hadid, her mother is Dutch former supermodel Yolanda Hadid and her father is Nazareth-born Jordanian real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, who has regularly made anti-Israel comments on social media.

The post Bella Hadid Apologizes for Adidas Campaign’s ‘Lack of Sensitivity’ in Referencing Munich Massacre first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Israel’s men’s swimming team set a new Israeli record in the 4×200m freestyle relay at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday morning with a time of 7:08.43 and advanced to the finals taking place on Tuesday night.

Their victory is the first time Israel has made it to an Olympic final in the 4×200m freestyle relay and is also Israel’s first swimming final of the Paris Olympics. The Olympic team is comprised of Bar Soloveychik, Eitan Ben Shitrit, Gal Cohen Groumi, and Denis Loktev.

Israel tied with Japan in fifth place in the relay on Tuesday morning. Both countries are advancing to the final, and they will compete against South Korea, Germany, France, Great Britain, the US, Australia, and China.

The post Israeli Men’s Swim Team Makes History at Paris Olympics, Breaks National Record first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) participated in a video call with controversial activist Linda Sarsour on Sunday in which the congresswoman accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and called on Muslim Americans to build a “political machine” to combat the Jewish state from within the United States.

Over the course of the roughly nine-minute conversation flagged on social media, Tlaib repeatedly denigrated Israel and pro-Israel organizations and accused the US Congress of having no sympathy for the plight of Palestinians.

Last night, I sat in on CAIR Action’s National Emergency Call to Help Build Our Collective Power. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Linda Sarsour were both there, and much of the conversation focused on funding and building a CAIR-sponsored SuperPAC.

00:00 – Sarsour introduces her… pic.twitter.com/lCMNUOSFdC

— Stu (@thestustustudio) July 29, 2024

The congresswoman also criticized Congress for inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver an address, questioning why Palestinians were not invited before lawmakers to share their testimonies. 

Sarsour, the former co-chair of the Women’s March and a prominent anti-Israel political activist, heaped praise on Tlaib for providing “the type of dignity in Congress that we’ve never seen before.” She further applauded Tlaib for calling Netanyahu a “war criminal” and called on her fellow Muslim Americans to support the anti-Israel congresswoman. 

“We have to outwork the hate, and it is hate,” Tlaib said. “There’s no love for our community when we say ‘end the genocide’ or a welcome mat in Congress to listen to our pain.”

The congresswoman added that Muslims of all backgrounds share an “indescribable” connection to a Palestinian state. She encouraged Muslim Americans to try and influence US domestic policy on Israel by “organizing, raising the money, [and] building the political power.” She added that “those that are promoting genocide have muliple PACs, multiple movements.”

Though Tlaib did not specify which groups she was referring to, many progressives have expressed frustration with Zionist political organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC, the most prominent pro-Israel lobbying organization in the US, has spent millions of dollars during the current election cycle to defeat anti-Israel lawmakers. The group notched its most notable victory in June when it spent a staggering $14.5 million to unseat prominent anti-Israel lawmaker Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).

“What we’re doing here is outworking the hate,” Tlaib said, claiming that other lawmakers refuse to assert that “Palestinians deserve to live.”

“It’s never going to be perfect. I know, I’m impatient, too. I want this to end. I want us to be fully seen and heard by our government,” Tlaib said.

Comparing the pro-Palestinian movement to the American Civil Rights Movement, she argued that activists will only achieve success when they “organize” and “push back” against the US government.

The congresswoman then blasted the US House of Representatives for passing an amendment in June which would prohibit the US State Department from using funds from the international affairs budget to cite casualty figures from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health. A bipartisan group of lawmakers voted 269-144 to pass the measure. The health ministry, which is run by the Hamas terrorist group, has been criticized for fabricating and inflating casualty numbers.

In response, Tlaib accused the House of harboring “anti-Palestinian racism.”

“They don’t want us to be seen or heard when we’re alive. And they don’t want to even see us when we’re dead. So we have to do more in building political power,” Tlaib said. 

Lambasting America as “the number one investor of genocide” in the world, Tlaib urged Muslim Americans to stand up for Palestinian interests by donating to and supporting anti-Israel politicians. 

Tlaib has issued withering criticism of Israel in the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of roughly 1,200 people throughout the Jewish state’s southern region. Tlaib has repeatedly accused Israel of attempting a “genocide” on Palestinians and of inflicting “famine” on families in Gaza. She refused to condemn protesters who chanted “death to America” during an April demonstration in her district. The congresswoman was also a featured speaker at a terrorist-connected, anti-Israel conference in May.

The post Rashida Tlaib Accuses Israel of ‘Genocide,’ Calls for Muslim Americans to Build ‘Political Power’ in Call With Linda Sarsour first appeared on Algemeiner.com.