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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Arwa Mahdawi

Why is Bella Hadid in the headlines? Because it distracts from the hell on Earth that is Gaza

Bela Hadid
Hadid was the only model of Palestinian heritage in the campaign. Photograph: Christophe Petit-Tesson/EPA

On Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu is having the red carpet rolled out for him in Washington DC. The Israeli prime minister, who is propped up by far-right extremists, will have the great honour of addressing Congress. The international criminal court may think he is a tad problematic, but in the twisted world we live in, he is being treated like a dignified statesman. The real villain du jour? A glance at the press suggests it’s the model Bella Hadid.

Hadid’s crime? She is part of a campaign for Adidas’s SL72 trainers. Or, rather, she was. Adidas dropped her from the campaign last week after the official @Israel X account objected to her involvement because the SL72s were released during the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, when 11 Israelis were taken hostage and killed by the Palestinian militant group Black September.

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