Updated June 16th, 2021 at 11:41 IST
Zara designer's 'Islamophobic' text to Palestinian model goes viral; #BoycottZara trends
The Zara designer's message to the Palestinian model did not sit well with netzines who labelled it as 'Islamophobic' and demanded her to be fired.
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Fashion major Zara is facing massive backlash on social media after its Head Designer Vanessa Perilman sent a 'racist message' to Palestinian model Qaher Hashash on a post regarding the Israel-Palestinian tensions. Taking to Instagram, Qaher Hashash shared an image of the direct message (DM) that she received from Vanessa Perilman in which the designer accused Palestinians of trying to portray Israel as 'a horrible evil country'.
"The people in my industry know the truth about Israel and Palestine and I will never stop defending Israel and people like you come and go and in the end, as the Jews survived the Holocaust we will survive this circus media that you are posting," the Zara designer said in the message.
"Maybe if your people were educated then they wouldn't blow up hospitals and schools that Israel helped to pay for in Gaza," she added.
The Zara designer also questioned Qaher Hashash on being a model despite her faith saying, "I think it's funny that you are a model because, in reality, that is against what the Muslim faith believes in and if you were to come out of the closet in any Muslim country, you would be stoned to death."
'Boycott Zara' trends on social media
The Zara designer's message to the Palestinian model did not sit well with netzines who labelled it as 'Islamophobic'. Shortly after the texts went viral, 'Boycott Zara' and 'Zara must apologize' began trending. Netizens have not only demanded an apology from Zara but have also asked for the Head designer to be fired over her 'Islamophobic' remarks.
#boycottzara another brand added to the list smh pic.twitter.com/cLwDM6BmAT
— هند (@hindffs)
Well, time to #BoycottZara. We stand with Palestine 🇵🇸 #ZaraMustApologize pic.twitter.com/zzS3sniSLc
— Ubaid Ullah (@itsubaidullah)
Just found the x ray of zara's head designer#boycottzara pic.twitter.com/11NXej9yWn
— Salman (@postive_v1bz)
So basically @ZARA is stating that an apology is more than enough for an Islamophobia apartheid-supporting message stated by Vanessa Perliman who is a senior designer at @ZARA #boycottzara #Israel #Islamophobia pic.twitter.com/mKrlxiAqKj
— Ghadeer issam (@ghadeer_babiker)
After 11 days of a constant barrage of airstrikes between Israel and Hamas, tensions began simmering down after the two sides reached a ceasefire agreement on May 21 ending the cross-border during. However, this was short-lived after Israel on June 16 launched fresh airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, the first after Palestinians in the besieged enclave sent incendiary balloons into southern Israel. The flare-up comes even as a new government in Israel assumes power with the ouster of Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Published June 16th, 2021 at 11:41 IST