MuslimGirl Blogger Rejects Revlon Award Because of Gal Gadot

ashley.rae | January 18, 2018
DONATE
Font Size

The Palestinian blogger who founded the MuslimGirl website is refusing to accept an award from Revlon because Gal Gadot is one of their newest brand ambassadors.

In a post shared on Twitter and Instagram, Amani al-Khatahtbeh said she could not accept Revlon’s Changemaker Award out of solidarity with Ahed Tamimi, a 16-year-old who was arrested for kicking and hitting IDF soldiers. Al-Khatahtbeh referred to Tamimi as an “activist” in her post. Gadot, as an Israeli, was required to serve in the IDF and has shared posts supporting them in the past.

Al-Khatahtbeh wrote, “[W]e can't accept role models that support the oppression of women and girls in other parts of the world. Especially after we just celebrated MLK Jr,” suggesting Gadot’s support for the IDF is part of oppressing women:

In a piece on the MuslimGirl website, al-Khatahtbeh wrote that she was denying the award because of the “inhumanity” in supporting the IDF:

We can’t talk about Israel without recognizing that Palestinians are treated as far less than second-class citizens and suffer extreme injustices under Israeli law, even when they are children.

[…]

By making this statement, what I’m saying is not that I refuse to work with those with differing opinions than me. Transformative change requires the alliance of different forms of engagement. But don’t mistake inhumanity as a difference of opinion.

Al-Khatahtbeh told Yahoo, “Gal is the face of Wonder Woman, feminism, and empowerment. And yet, she doesn’t stand for the empowerment of everyone and she’s very vocal on matters that disproportionately oppress women and children. It doesn’t add up.”

Al-Khatahtbeh also told Teen Vogue, “We have to make sure that our feminism is inclusive of [all] women of color because history has taught us that we can't compromise on liberation.”

When accepting the position as Revlon’s Live Boldly ambassador, Gadot similarly praised the importance of being a “a champion of women.”

(Image source: Instagram)

donate