We’re all familiar with those “cashmere communists” who virtuously express their support for the poor and oppressed from the comfort of their million-pound mansions. But in the last few days, a whole new generation of hypocrites has emerged: the Rolls-Royce revolutionaries.
Step forward Alicia Keys and Gigi Hadid. Two rich, successful and powerful women whose beauty, talent and connections allowed them to live a lifestyle that most can only dream of. Two women in high security positions have been accused by the Israeli government of “turning a blind eye” to Hamas.
Nothing has exposed the childhood emptiness of some celebrities more than the attack on Israel. So many ordinary people who are so quick to bemoan what they see as injustices, from the treatment of refugees to transgender rights – Gary Lineker, Emma Thompson, Emma Watson and others – were unusually circumspect when it came to condemning the Hamas pogrom. .
But Keys and Hadid take this cowardly idiocy to a whole new level. In an Instagram post to her 27 million followers, Keys, 42, uploaded a photo of herself wearing a black, green and white biker jacket with a red logo on one lapel – the colors of the Palestinian flag. She captioned the photo: “What would you do if you weren’t afraid of anything?” Tell me your truth. . . I’ve got my eye on paragliding.”
Paragliding, of course, was one of the more frightening methods of invasion used by Hamas terrorists when they attacked civilians on October 7, shooting terrified festival-goers, kidnapping grandmothers and babies, abducting women, setting fire to entire families in their homes.
Pro-Hamas demonstrators were seen holding images of paragliders in a show of support. How could anyone—let alone a social media user with a vast global platform—be unaware of this fact or not realize its significance?
However, shortly thereafter, Keys stated his ignorance.
“The post I shared earlier was COMPLETELY unrelated to the recent devastating loss of life. My heart was breaking.” Did Keyes think she would make herself look cool by siding with the “oppressed” without realizing that many Palestinians abhor the actions of Hamas?
Whatever her intentions, it is actually not only rude, but also demonstrates an extraordinary level of ignorance. But that’s the problem with being a Rolls-Royce revolutionary: you’re so isolated inside your bubble of privilege that it never occurs to you that your statements might have consequences. It’s the same with Hadid. “There is nothing Jewish about the Israeli government’s treatment of the Palestinians,” she wrote on social media. “Condemning the Israeli government is not anti-Semitic, and supporting the Palestinians does not mean supporting Hamas.”
In response, the Israeli government posted a message: “Have you slept for the last week?” Or are you perfectly blind to the fact that Jewish babies are being killed in their homes?
Meanwhile, Hadid’s father, property developer Mohamed Hadid, who was born into a Palestinian Muslim family in 1948, has openly shamed Israel, directly blaming it for the horrors visited upon its people. “This is not a human being and Bibi (sic) and the far right government of this Zionist state are 100% responsible for . . this massive escalation between occupier and occupied,” he wrote next to a photo of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who supports settlements in the occupied territories.
Many of my Jewish friends would be the first to admit that the Israeli government, especially the current administration of Bibi Netanyahu, has made mistakes. But “less than a person”? Says everything.
The Nazis also called Jews subhumans: “Untermenschen.” This distorted perception helped justify their perpetration of the Holocaust. It appears that the same idea is being used here to justify the horrors committed by Hamas.
In some ways, however, I believe the selective morality of people like Hadid and Keys is understandable. They both operate in superficial worlds, devoid of intellectual rigor, where image, not content, is everything.
And like most useful idiots, they romanticize what they see as the idea of a noble rebel standing up to the callous power of the state. Forgetting, of course, that if Hamas and its Islamist masters ever get their way, their comfortable world will collapse.
Pop stars and supermodels are generally not treated with respect by the mullahs who run Iran and finance Hamas, or by radical Islamist leaders anywhere. I don’t think Ms. Hadid will be able to walk half naked down many runways if they ever take control of the West or Keys sings her hits.
Gay rights, transgender rights, women’s rights – they don’t exist in countries ruled by Muslim theocracies. Israel, by contrast, despite its large Orthodox Jewish community, is a liberal democracy where individual freedoms are not only tolerated but staunchly defended.
It may not be ideal, but you only have to look at the squalor of life in Tehran to see that the alternative is much worse. Perhaps fashionable critics of Israel will want to think about this the next time they celebrate the massacre of its citizens and call for its destruction.
Truly an ungrateful boy
Richard Curtis has said he was “stupid and wrong” for making jokes about people’s sizes in his films after being told off by his daughter Scarlett on stage at a literary festival.
The British film giant isn’t the first member of her family to be shouted at by young Scarlett, who previously described her maternal great-great-grandfather Sigmund Freud as “sexist” and “horrible.”
Miss Curtis would do well to remember that if it weren’t for her father’s success, not to mention her mother’s family connections, no one would have paid any attention to what she thought – let alone given her a platform. with which one could go on air. Resentments awoke in her.
There’s only one thing more annoying than a non-child, and that’s an ungrateful non-child.
Speaking of out-of-bred children, Madonna’s daughter Esther is proving to be something of a star, sharing the stage with her older sisters Lourdes and Mercy on her mother’s holiday tour.
But there’s just one thing: the show is incredibly raunchy, and Esther is only 11. At one point, Madonna talks about doing “menial jobs for showers” when she was a struggling performer in New York – and that’s it. not half of it.
Is it really appropriate for a minor to be exposed to such mature topics?
MPs should really ditch the HP sauce
Should Parliament ban alcohol consumption on premises? Quite possibly, if a report from the Independent Complaints and Complaints System (ICGS) is to be believed.
It said alcohol is a “common factor” in deputies’ misconduct, “leading to intimidating behavior such as shouting and swearing.”
I’m old enough to remember Fleet Street, where the newspapers had their pubs. It was common practice for journalists to pop into the bar for half or three breaks between reporting stories – and I have to admit, it created a friendly atmosphere. But there have also been cases where it has led to some very deplorable behavior.
The Palace of Westminster is a workplace where monumental decisions are made, often at the end of long nights of debate. Overall I think it would have been better if everyone involved had omitted the sauce.
Princess Diana’s return as a ghost in the final episode of The Crown is, in my opinion, the ultimate exploitation of her memory. And yet Prince Harry, much of whose anger is directed at what he sees as the media’s exploitation of her, continues to receive Netflix dollars.
Time to go home?
Following news that violent prisoners are to be released early to ease prison overcrowding, I wonder whether the government should also implement proposals to send foreign prisoners, who make up about 12 percent of the prison population, back to their (often grim) countries of origin. . Who knows, maybe this will encourage others not to commit crimes at all.
The country’s largest exam board has announced that students will take exams on laptops by 2026 as part of an “evolution” of teaching. Forgive me for worrying how this will end.
Many of our lecture halls are already empty and students are studying online. How soon will teachers themselves become obsolete?
Are we looking at a future where children will never be able to attend a classroom or play catch on the playground? I hope not. But I can’t be sure.