Zithobe Macheli, a well-known South African beauty influencer, recently declared her support for Palestine by saying she would no longer partner with companies that give their earnings to Israel.
She revealed that, because she supports the Palestinian people, she declined two business deals for R50,000 in an Instagram post with the description, “Here is how you can support Palestine as a beauty consumer and a beauty influencer.
“We are currently witnessing a genocide. More than 10,000 have been killed in the past 31 days in Palestine and these are innocent people that are being wiped off the surface of the earth in the most gruesome and painful way,” she said in her reel.
“Recently, a list of beauty brands that are allegedly associated with Israel and ones that are using their profits to fund the genocide have been outed. And on this list are a lot of brands that I love. Brands that I’ve worked with in the past and brands that I’m currently in negotiations with.”
She continued by saying that her past association with those brands are not a reflection of her dignity and integrity as a human.
The reason why she turned down the brand deals is because she doesn’t condone the killing of innocent people and as someone who works in the beauty space, she understands the influence she has when it comes to eliciting brand interest in people and affecting their buying habits.
“I’m making this video to plead with beauty consumers and creators to boycott these brands.”
She went on to say that she recognizes that it can be challenging for content creators because they frequently have contractual obligations to businesses.
Macheli persisted in pleading with them to boycott the products in order to “stand on the right side of history.” She provided a list of companies that she said supported Israel at the conclusion of the video.
