Bella Hadid has taken to Instagram to speak out against Israel's storming of Al Aqsa Mosque, and has accused the social media platform of “shadow banning” her stories.
“My Instagram has disabled me from posting on my story – pretty much only when it is Palestine based I assume,” the model, who is of Dutch and Palestinian descent, wrote. “When I post about Palestine I get immediately shadow banned and almost one million less of you see my stories and posts.”
In a second post, Hadid, who has 51 million followers, shared a screengrab showing her inability to share content on her Stories, with the comment: “Won’t let me repost… for 2 hours now.”
She explained in a separate frame that a pair of “very important” posts she had been trying to repost from the Eye On Palestine account, alongside long messages, were also not uploading.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said 153 people were injured by rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas fired by Israeli security forces who entered the Al Aqsa Mosque compound after Friday morning prayers.
“There are attacks against our staff … on medical personnel and ambulances. There’s denied access to reach victims,” a representative for the medical organisation told The National.
Friday’s violence came after Israeli forces killed at least 12 Palestinians in the West Bank during the past week. Those killed include alleged militants, a child accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail, and an unarmed woman. Palestinians have killed 14 Israelis in a series of attacks in recent weeks.
Hadid, who has long been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, went on to share her views on the violence in Jerusalem. She shared a video clip from Al Aqsa Mosque, with the caption: “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.) “
She also shared news headlines, reposts from other social media accounts and a number of videos, some featuring sensitive content, as well as screen grabs showing messages from Instagram saying: “Upload failed. Try again.”
“I wonder what they are trying to hide by [censoring] me? I wonder what they are hiding when they try to [censor], harass, attack innocent journalists doing their job,” Hadid questioned.
