We all know those ‘cashmere communists’ who, by virtue of their virtue, express their support for the poor and oppressed from the comfort of their multi-million pound homes. But in recent days, a whole new breed of hypocrite has emerged: the Rolls-Royce revolutionaries.
Step forward Alicia Keys and Gigi Hadid. Two wealthy, successful and influential women whose beauty, talent and connections have given them a lifestyle that most can only dream of. Two women who, from positions of elevated security, have been accused by the Israeli government of “turning a blind eye” to Hamas’ actions.
Nothing has exposed the childish emptiness of certain celebrities more than the attack on Israel. So many of the usual voices so quick to complain about what they see as injustices, from the treatment of refugees to the rights of transgender people – Gary Lineker, Emma Thompson, Emma Watson et al. – have been extraordinarily circumspect when it comes to condemning the Hamas pogrom. .
But Keys and Hadid take this cowardly idiocy to a whole new level. In a message on Instagram to her 27 million followers, Keys, 42, uploaded a photo of herself in a black, green and white motorcycle jacket with a red logo on one lapel – the colors of the Palestinian flag. She captioned it, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid of anything? Tell me your truth. . . I have my eye on paragliding.’
Paragliding was, of course, one of the most horrifying raid methods used by Hamas terrorists when they attacked civilians on October 7, shooting terrified festival-goers, kidnapping grandmothers and babies, raping women and setting whole families on fire in their homes.
Pro-Hamas protesters have been seen carrying images of paragliders as a show of support. How can anyone – let alone a social media user with a huge global platform – not be aware of that fact, or appreciate its significance?
In recent days we have seen the rise of a whole new breed of hypocrite: the revolutionaries of Rolls-Royce – step forward Alicia Keys
“There is nothing Jewish about the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians,” Gigi Hadid wrote on social media
Shortly afterwards, however, Keys claimed ignorance.
“The message I shared earlier was in no way related to the recent devastating loss of life. My heart broke.’ Did Keys think she would make herself look cool by positioning herself on the side of the “oppressed” – not realizing that many Palestinians abhor Hamas’s actions?
Whatever her intention, in reality it is not only rude, it shows an extraordinary level of ignorance. But that’s the problem with being a Rolls-Royce revolutionary: you’re so isolated in your bubble of privilege that it never occurs to you that your statements could have consequences. The same goes for Hadid. “There is nothing Jewish about the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians,” she wrote on social media. “Condemning the Israeli government is not anti-Semitic and supporting the Palestinians is not supporting Hamas.”
In response, the Israeli government posted: ‘Have you slept this past week? Or can you just turn a blind eye when Jewish babies are slaughtered in their homes?’
Meanwhile, Hadid’s father, real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, born into a Palestinian-Muslim family in 1948, publicly shamed Israel and roundly accused the country of the horrors inflicted on its people. ‘This lesser human being and Bibi (sic) and the far right government of this Zionist state are 100 percent responsible for it. . . this massive escalation between the occupied territories and the occupying forces,” he wrote, next to a photo of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who supports settlements in occupied territories.
Many of my Jewish friends would be the first to admit that the Israeli government, and especially the current government of “Bibi” Netanyahu, has made mistakes. But ‘less human’? That says it all.
The Nazis also called the Jews less than human: ‘Untermenschen.’ This distorted perception helped them justify the Holocaust. The same idea seems to be used here to justify the horrors of Hamas.
But in some ways I think the selective morality of people like Hadid and Keys is understandable. They both operate in superficial worlds devoid of intellectual rigor – where the image, not the content, is everything.
And like most useful idiots, they romanticize what they see as the idea of the noble rebel standing up against the heartless power of the state. We forget, of course, that if Hamas and their Islamic paymasters ever had their way, their comfortable worlds would collapse.
Pop stars and supermodels are generally not viewed with respect by the mullahs who run Iran and finance Hamas, or by hardline Islamic leaders anywhere. I can’t imagine that Ms. Hadid would be able to walk down many runways half-naked if they ever gained traction in the West, or if Keys sang her hits.
Gay rights, trans rights, women’s rights – they do not exist in countries in the grip of Islamic theocracies. Israel, on the other hand, despite its very large Jewish Orthodox community, is a liberal democracy where individual freedoms are not only tolerated but also vigorously defended.
It may not be perfect – but you only have to look at the misery of life in Tehran to see that the alternative is much worse. Perhaps Israel’s fashionable critics will want to think about that next time they celebrate the massacre of its citizens and call for its destruction.
Actually an ungrateful bitch
Richard Curtis has said he was ‘stupid and wrong’ for making jokes about people’s size in his films after being chastised by his daughter Scarlett on stage at a literary festival.
This giant of British cinema isn’t the first member of her family to ‘call out’ young Scarlett: she has previously described her maternal great-great-grandfather, Sigmund Freud, as ‘sexist’ and ‘terrible’.
Miss Curtis would do well to remember that, were it not for her father’s successes, not to mention the connections on her mother’s side of the family, no one would care what she thinks – let alone giving her a platform from which she can express her opinions. her awakened grievances.
There’s only one thing more annoying than a nepo baby – and that’s an ungrateful nepo brat.
Speaking of nepo babies, Madonna’s daughter Estere is emerging as a real star, sharing the stage with her older sisters Lourdes and Mercy during her mother’s Celebration Tour.
There’s just one thing, though: the show is incredibly raunchy, and Estere is only eleven. At one point, Madonna talks about giving ‘b*** jobs for showers’ when she was a struggling artist in New York – and that’s not even the half of it.
Is it really appropriate for a minor to be exposed to such adult themes?
Speaking of nepo babies, Madonna’s daughter Estere is proving to be a real star, sharing the stage with her older sisters Lourdes and Mercy during her mother’s Celebration Tour.
MPs should really give up the HP sauce
Should Parliament ban alcohol on its premises? That’s entirely possible, if a report from the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) is anything to go by.
It says alcohol is a ‘common factor’ in MPs’ misconduct, ‘leading to intimidating behavior such as shouting and swearing’.
I’m old enough to remember a Fleet Street where newspapers had their own pubs. It was common for journalists to sit at the bar for a quick half hour (or three) between filing stories – and I must admit that this created a pleasant atmosphere. But there were also times when this led to very regrettable behavior.
The Palace of Westminster is a workplace where monumental decisions are made, often at the end of a long late-night debate. I think it would be better – on balance – if everyone involved dropped the sauce.
Bringing back Princess Diana as a ghost in the latest series of The Crown is, in my opinion, about the exploitation of her memory. And yet Prince Harry – whose anger is largely directed at what he sees as the media’s exploitation of her – continues to take the Netflix dollar.
Time to go home?
Following the news that violent prisoners will be released early to reduce prison overcrowding, I wonder whether the government should also implement proposals to return foreign prisoners, who represent around 12 percent of the prison population, to their (often grim) countries of origin. origin. You never know, it might encourage others not to commit crimes in the first place.
The country’s largest exam board has announced that students will take their tests on laptops by 2026 as part of an ‘evolution’ in learning. Forgive me for worrying where this ends.
Many of our lecture halls are already empty and students are being taught online. How long will it take before teachers themselves become redundant?
Are we looking at a future where children will never be able to experience a classroom or play games on a playground? I hope not. But I am not sure.
