Gigi Hadid and Mia Khalifa stand up for Palestine: What’s going on?

Models Mia Khalifa and Gigi Hadid have taken a stand for Palestine on Twitter and Instagram against Israeli violence in Palestine.

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Confused about what’s going on in Palestine? Here is the breakdown:

It started in the early days of Ramzan when Israeli forces tried to block off areas where Muslim worshipers would gather after the evening prayer. After mass protests by Muslims in the area, the blockade was lifted. But that was not the end. Israeli police then tried to hamper the movement of buses carrying Muslim worshipers to the Old City in Jerusalem, where the third holiest mosque in Islam, Al-Aqsa is located. The police said they were trying to find specific people on the buses. But it was seen as an attempt to slow down Muslims from gathering at Al-Aqsa for prayers.

Parallel to what was happening in the Old City, fifteen minutes away, in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Al-Jarrah, Israeli settlers were trying to forcibly remove Palestinians from their homes. These homes had been given to the Palestinians in 1948 when Israeli was created, and the area was and has been predominantly Palestinian. A Jewish group is claiming that before the land was given to the Palestinians in 1948, the land belonged to the Jews. With what is being seen as help of the Israeli state, four Palestinian families were forcibly evicted from their homes. Protests erupted in the neighbourhood of Al-Jarrah and 15 minutes away, in the Old City, protests were ongoing against the Israeli state, leading to mass protests in Jerusalem.

During the protests, hundreds of Palestinians were wounded after being shot at, beaten and arrested. After seeing the protests in Jerusalem, Palestinians in Gaza also began to protest in solidarity. At least 24 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air raids, according to the Palestinian health ministry, after Hamas launched rockets towards Israel. Nine children were killed in the attack with more than a 100 injured.

Israel destroyed this residential building w/ no military significance just as it blew up several apartment towers in middle class areas of Gaza in 2014. The purpose of this terror attack was to guarantee escalation and demonstrate total impunity. https://t.co/Ri0W887K03

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) May 11, 2021

Meanwhile, in the Old City, Israeli forces stormed the compound where Al-Aqsa mosque is located, and Palestinians were praying and also peacefully protesting. Israeli police fired rubber-coated bullets, tear gas and sound bombs at the Muslim worshippers. More than 180 Palestinians were injured.

As tensions rose between Palestinians and Israelis, a tree in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound was lit on fire. It is unclear how it caught fire but when it did, Israelis came out to their holy site underneath the compound and danced, watching the trees near Al-Aqsa burn.

In the most recent news, the Israeli high court has postponed a ruling that allowed for forced expulsions of the four Palestinian families in Al-Jarrah, which is a victory for the Palestinians. How long it lasts is still to be seen.