Mohamed Hadid and one of his daughters, Bella Hadid, arrive at the premiere of Ismael’s Ghosts (Les Fantomes d’Ismael) during the 70th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France. Photo: Hubert Boesl/Cover Media via Reuters
Real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, who is also the father of models Gigi and Bella Hadid, continued to rail against US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) on Sunday for supporting Israel, calling him a “shill being used by” the Jewish state while attempting to apology for sending offensive messages to the congressman.
A day earlier, the New York Post shared direct messages that Mohamed, 75, sent from his verified Instagram account to Torres, 36, over several months.
“You worse than the rats of New York sewage system. They have bigger brains than you. You might get a job as bouncer at gay bar,” Hadid allegedly wrote. The real estate mogul, who was born in Nazareth, reportedly told Torres that he was a “slave to whites” and another message read, “Make sure you dress as KKK to hide that ugly gray colored face of yours.”
The New York Post shared a screenshot of one message in which Hadid wrote to Torres, “You are just unusual Black and colorful mouth for Israeli and AIPAC and looking for payday of over 500K,” referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group.
In 2021, Torres became the first openly gay Black and Hispanic man to join Congress. He has been vocal in his defense of Israel following the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks.
Hadid took to Instagram on Sunday to apology for his remarks — but also accused Israel of committing genocide and further criticized Torres for being supportive of the Jewish state.
“I need to apologize,” Hadid wrote in an Instagram post. “Not for the anger I feel but for the words I used to express that anger.” He then called Israel “a state that not only mistreats Black and Brown people but pinkwashes their atrocities using their projected gay rights as a shield for their human rights violations.”
He added: “My feeling after 76 years of being a refugee from the country where I and my ancestors were born and watching a genocide unfold are at an all time high. I am watching Unites State politicians work as AIPAC messengers of genocide. I used the wrong words to express that anger but the anger was warranted. To send Black and Brown and other marginalized communities to do the dirty work of two countries who have never respected them is wrong. I apologize to my community for directing the conversation to this. And even for a minute from Palestine. All eyes on Palestine. Free Palestine.”
Before Hadid issued his apology, Torres released a statement to the New York Post about the hateful messages he received from the real estate developer.
“Whether it is dehumanizing me as worse than the rats of the NYC sewage system or telling me to dress like the KKK to ‘hide that gray colored face of yours,’ Mr. Hadid has hurled just about every racist insult at me shorting of calling me the N-word,” Torres said. “That Mr. Hadid felt so at ease demonizing and dehumanizing a Black member of Congress reveals a tragic truth about our politics: if you are a person of color and pro-Israel, you are fair game for racist invective.”
Hadid has a history of accusing Israel of occupation, colonialism, genocide, and apartheid. In March, he lambasted US President Joe Biden for his relations with Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks. “He will be in court with the rest of the Zionist criminals. We will hunt them down like they did the Nazis,” he wrote. He also called Biden the “head of the Zionist project.”
Hadid’s daughter, Bella, has participated in anti-Israel rallies where she chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and for it to be replaced with a Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. She has also accused Israel of “colonization, ethnic cleansing, military occupation, and apartheid over the Palestinian people.”
