Latest news with #MosabAbuToha
The National
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Pulitzer-winning Palestinian author confronts Saint Levant and Huda Kattan: 'Do you really care about Gaza?'
Pulitzer Prize-winning Palestinian author Mosab Abu Toha has publicly criticised singer Saint Levant and beauty entrepreneur Huda Kattan, questioning the timing and tone of their new collaboration inspired by Palestinian identity. The pair recently launched a new shade of Huda Beauty 's Faux Filler Lip Oil called Kalamantina – a reference to Palestinian clementine oranges – in tandem with the release of Saint Levant's latest single of the same name. A promotional photoshoot for the product featured both figures posing in front of a car overflowing with the fruit. In a post on the brand's Instagram account, Huda Beauty described the release as 'for the homeland', stating that a donation would be made to organisations supporting 'Palestinian agriculture and cultural preservation'. The brand did not, however, specify the amount or whether it would reflect a percentage of the product's proceeds. Saint Levant, a part-Palestinian singer and rapper, also posted about the collaboration saying, among other musings, that he was 'grateful' that the launch was 'supporting Palestinian agriculture at a time where settler violence and Zionist ethnic cleansing is rising'. Abu Toha, whose New Yorker essay series chronicling his life during the war and eventual evacuation from Gaza earned him the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, commented on the post on Monday, expressing frustration and grief over what he saw as the disconnect between the campaign's messaging and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. 'I truly do not understand how you are publishing this love song showing lots of clementines when my people of Gaza are killed while trying to get food,' Abu Toha wrote. 'Do you really care about Gaza? You share this video when 102 people were killed today, including a cousin of mine, while seeking food?' The author and poet went on to say that supporting Gaza financially was secondary to the people of Gaza's 'feelings as human beings'. His comments come as suffering in Gaza ' reaches new depths '. At least 59,029 Palestinians have been killed and 142,135 wounded since October 2023. According to a May report by Unicef, more than 50,000 children were either killed or injured in the enclave. The criticism echoes remarks made in recent weeks by other cultural figures. At a performance in Abu Dhabi, American comedian Dave Chappelle called out Palestinian-American musician DJ Khaled for his silence, saying: 'People are starving.' The Kalamantina campaign has received both praise and backlash online, with another comment that has received more than 500 likes calling the campaign 'tone deaf'. Neither Saint Levant nor Huda Kattan have publicly responded to Abu Toha's comments, which are no longer visible beneath Saint Levant's post. Both Kattan and Saint Levant have spoken out in support of Palestine in the past numerous times. Saint Levant called the Israel-Gaza war a " brutal genocide" on stage Coachella in 2024. Kattan has commented her social media platforms and by pledging $1 million to humanitarian organisations.
Middle East Eye
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Middle East Eye
Visual artist Frans al-Salmi killed in Israeli strike on cafe
Visual artist Frans al-Salmi was one of nearly three dozen Palestinians killed in an Israeli missile attack on al-Baqa Cafe, the Palestinian writer Mosab Abu Toha reported on Instagram on Monday. At least 33 Palestinians, including Palestinian photojournalist Ismail Abu Hatab, were killed in an Israeli missile attack on al-Baqa Cafe on Gaza City beach, according to eyewitness testimony and reporting from the local media.
Morocco World
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
Genocide in Gaza Continues Amid Media and Internet Blackout
Rabat – As the world fixates on the spectacle of Israeli-Iranian confrontation, the genocide in Gaza grinds on — starved, bombed, and erased — but with dramatically reduced media coverage. Media outlets have largely shifted to the clashes between Israel and Iran, while Gaza suffers under an almost complete internet blackout that has now stretched over two days, severing communication with the outside world and shrouding Israel's genocide in darkness. Although Israel has cut off communication multiple times throughout its genocidal campaign, the digital siege tightened further on Thursday, June 12, when Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) airstrikes targeted what remained of Gaza's telecommunications infrastructure. The Palestinian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority stated that Israel has deliberately and repeatedly targeted the sector, systematically isolating Gaza from the world and obstructing even emergency repairs. As attention wanes, Palestinian poet and genocide survivor Mosab Abu Toha urged on social media for the world to refocus on Gaza — where there is 'No defense system. No army. No sirens. No bomb shelters…' Laying bare the grotesque asymmetry of a nuclear-armed apartheid state backed by the most powerful governments on Earth while insisting it is simply at 'war' with a trapped and starving civilian population. Israel's campaign of terror has not slowed. Unfazed by Iran's attacks, the IOF continues their genocidal operations, recently killing at least 58 Palestinians, many near an 'aid' distribution site operated by the US-Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). This is just the latest massacre of starving Palestinians, whom are risking their lives for a chance at food – fully aware they're more likely to be killed than fed as what Palestinains and humanitarian agencies recognize as a GHF 'death trap.' Palestinian journalist Talal Mahmoud reported that Al Awda Hospital was overwhelmed by the flood of injuries, while many wounded and missing remained unaccounted for. The hospital, like many others in Gaza, is collapsing under the weight of victims and the complete absence of medical supplies — a direct result of Israel's repeated bombings of healthcare infrastructure, assassinations of medical staff, and the ongoing blockade that prevents even basic humanitarian equipment from entering. Though fewer in number due to the blackout, horrific images still managed to surface over the past 48 hours: doctors performing surgeries in the dark, children executed with bullets to the head and neck, a young man transporting his father's corpse on a bicycle, and lifeless bodies scattered in the wake of Israel's impunity and bloodthirst. Israel wages its genocide in Gaza, expands attacks across the region, and drags the world towards war–all with full US and Western support. But as its brutality escalates, analysts now wonder whether the apartheid state leadership may be edging closer to collapse, rotting from within under the weight of its own violence and supremacist delusion.
LeMonde
10-06-2025
- LeMonde
Starving Palestinians in Gaza spend Eid al-Adha under bombardment
On a page torn from a notebook, a photograph of which he posted on X, exiled Gazan poet Mosab Abu Toha drew five family trees – five nuclear families within the same extended Khader family. Thirty-six people in total. All were killed on Friday, June 6, the first day of Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday in the Muslim calendar. An Israeli bomb destroyed their five-story family building in Jabaliya, north of Gaza City. Not included in the family tree are a handful of survivors who were absent at the time of the strike, including freelance journalist Abdelrahim Khader, who had gone out that morning. The 23-year-old photographer filmed the gray rubble of his home as he rushed toward the debris. In the video, he can be heard screaming: "Mom, Dad! Is anyone alive? Mom, Dad, Mostafa, Karim, answer me, anyone!" The neighborhood was under an evacuation order: 82% of the entire Gaza Strip is now a military zone or an area to evacuate. Five bodies were pulled from the rubble, as well as "kilos of flesh" believed to be from two other dismembered bodies, Abdelrahim Khader reported in a phone call from Gaza. He said he was able to confirm the deaths of 38 people – he did not know if others were present in the house that day. One of his married sisters, who no longer lived with them, and an uncle, who was out at the time, survived.
The National
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Outrage as Israel releases footage of Flotilla hostages
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship the Madleen was captured by Israel's forces overnight, with activist Greta Thunberg, who was on board, saying in a statement that they had been 'intercepted and kidnapped'. Separately, Israel's foreign ministry called the boat a "selfie yacht'. READ MORE: Freedom Flotilla urges UK Government to 'protect' ship from Israel as it nears Gaza The ministry then shared a video at 2.25am, showing the hostages being given water and sandwiches. The caption reads: "All the passengers of the 'selfie yacht' are safe and unharmed. They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over." All the passengers of the 'selfie yacht' are safe and unharmed. They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over. — Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 9, 2025 The video has 11.1 million views on Twitter/X, with more than 8000 comments. One states: "Worst propaganda I've ever seen". Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha also replied: "Shame on you. These people did not come to be fed by YOU. "They left their countries and families to feed other people you are murdering, to stand in solidarity with them, to stand up for humanity which you have been slaughtering every single day." The activists had set out to protest against Israel's ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip and its restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, both of which have put the territory of some two million Palestinians at risk of famine. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which had organised the voyage, said the activists were 'kidnapped by Israeli forces' while trying to deliver desperately needed aid to the territory. 'The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo — including baby formula, food and medical supplies —confiscated,' it said in a statement. Australian Green senator David Shoebridge said the seizure of the board was a 'clear breach of international law". The UK Government has been approached for comment. READ MORE: Israel issues statement after 'unlawfully' detaining Madleen aid ship to Gaza At approximately 12.30am on Monday, the coalition said drones had been spotted above the ship. Video footage from crew members onboard the Madleen shows a white substance which had been thrown onto the ship. The coalition described the substance as "irritant", with several crew members reporting that their eyes were burning. The Madleen was reportedly flying the red ensign, the UK's shipping flag. That means the UK Government retains jurisdiction over the ship even if it was in international waters. However, if the ship entered Israeli waters, then it may become subject to Israeli laws.
