A statement made by Rare Beauty, the cosmetics company founded and owned by Selena Gomez, on the Israel and Palestine conflict is the latest in a series of posts associated with the artist to garner criticism.
Since the attacks by Hamas on an Israeli music festival on Oct. 7, around 1,400 Israelis have died. Approximately 8,300 Palestinians have died in retaliatory bombing. Almost half of Palestinians are under the age of 18.
Selena first made a statement on the conflict at the end of last month, where she said, "I've been taking a break from social media because my heart breaks to see all of the horror, hate, violence, and terror that's going on in the world."
"People being tortured and killed or any act of hate toward any one group is horrific," she continued. "We need to protect ALL people, especially children and stop the violence for good. I'm sorry if my words will never be enough for everyone or a hashtag. I just can't stand by innocent people getting hurt. That's what makes me sick. I wish I could change the world. But a post won't. Love, Selena."
Some were disappointed that Selena, the most followed woman in the world on Instagram, was not doing more or taking a clearer stance. "She started a hate train against Hailey Bieber because of some comments she made on TikTok. [...] She KNOWS exactly the power and influence she holds, she just doesn’t want to use it," one tweet with over 102k likes read. "She has the opportunity to inform her 400 million followers abt a genocide…if ur too cowardly to stand w the oppressed then keep it in the drafts," said another with over 72k likes.
Selena followed up with a picture of her sister, writing, “Having a sister, every day has made me tragically sick. I would do anything for children and innocent lives.” Further criticism ensued, resulting in Selena posting that she was "taking a break" and deleting her Instagram: "I'm done. I do not support any of what's going on."
Fast-forward to a few days ago, and the Artists 4 Ceasefire letter to President Biden was released. "We ask that, as President of the United States, you and the US Congress call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost," it reads. "As of this writing more than 6,000 bombs have been dropped on Gaza in the last 12 days — resulting in one child being killed every 15 minutes." Selena was one of the signatories.
Yesterday, Rare Beauty posted an in-depth statement onto its Instagram under the title, "Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza."
"Thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes & millions of civilians have been displaced & left without access to food, water, medicine, or basic necessities for survival. A large number of these victims are children. Palestinian civilians must be protected, period," the statement said.
It continued, "We remain heartbroken by the horrible terror attack against innocent civilians in Israel on October 7th, many of them also children. There is no situation where attacks on civilians are acceptable. We strongly denounce any & all forms of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia."
As for donations, the statement said, "Rare Beauty will be making donations to the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies — Magen David Adom, & Palestinian Red Crescent Society — who are providing urgent care on the ground. We will also be donating to UNICEF to help get urgent medical relief & resources to the children of Gaza." Some took this as a statement that Rare Beauty was donating to Palestine.
Let's talk about Magen David Adom. It's an Israeli government-mandated agency that handles "disaster relief, ambulance, and blood services." It's a member of the International Red Cross/Red Crescent. In its own words, it works alongside the IDF and is "an auxiliary service to the Israeli Defense Forces in time of war."
Some dubbed the inclusion of MDA in a post framed around Gaza to be "misleading" or, at worst, "calculated":
While others questioned why Rare Beauty was the one to make the statement, rather than Selena's own account with more followers:
Whereas, others were happy with the statement:
