Palestinian blogger rejects beauty industry award over Gal Gadot sponsorship

The founder of a website dedicated to amplifying the voices of Muslim women has refused to accept an award from beauty company Revlon as Israeli actor Gal Gadot is the brand ambassador for the company’s newest campaign.

The Changemaker Award, which celebrates the company’s Live Boldly campaign, was given to Amani al-Khatahtbeh for her advocacy for Muslim women.
However, in an Instagram post on Tuesday, Khatahtbeh said she could not accept the award while Gadot - who is a former Israeli army soldier and publicly supported the 2014 bombing of Gaza - was the ambassador of the campaign.

"Her vocal support of the Israeli Defense Forces' actions in Palestine goes against MuslimGirl.com's principles and values," wrote Khatahtbeh.

"I can't, in good conscience, accept this award from the brand and celebrate Gal's ambassadorship after the IDF imprisoned a 16-year-old girl named Ahed Tamimi last month, an activist who is currently still incarcerated.

“We can’t accept role models that support the oppression of women and girls in other parts in the world."

Ahed al-Tamimi was seized at dawn when Israeli soldiers raided her family home after she was filmed confronting two soldiers in Al-Nabi Saleh, a small village in the occupied West Bank.

An Israeli military judge on Wednesday ordered that Tamimi remain in Israeli custody until she faces trial on charges of throwing stones - punishable by up to 10 years in jail in Israel - incitement and making threats.

Tamimi’s arrest has sparked waves of support for her, as many took the opportunity to highlight the number of children held in Israeli prisons.

Last week, Revlon announced Gadot as brand ambassador for the campaign, the purpose of which they said was to “inspire women to express themselves with passion, optimism, strength and style.”

Revlon added that there was no better embodiment of those qualities than Gadot herself.

Gadot shared a message of support for the IDF of her Facebook page during the conflict between Israel and Gaza in 2014, which saw at least 2,200 Palestinians killed, 20,000 homes destroyed and up to 500,000 Gaza residents displaced.

"It's easy to get caught up in convos about women's empowerment right now, which is why it's so important for us to stay woke about who's getting left out of the conversation and give them space whenever we can," Khatahtbeh told Teen Vogue.

"We have to make sure that our feminism is inclusive of [all] women of colour because history has taught us that we can't compromise on liberation."

Khatahtbeh also said in her post that the recognition of Muslimgirl and its work in “spaces from which we’ve been traditionally excluded” meant a lot, adding that that recognition makes it all the more important “to stand up for ALL women and girls”.