By Adam S. Levy for Dailymail.com 05:28 Oct 17, 2023, updated 05:48 Oct 17, 2023
- Keys, 42, wore a black jacket with white and green accents in a post referencing paragliding; She later deleted the post
- One advocacy group suggested she may have signaled support for Hamas amid the ongoing war with Israel
- The Grammy winner denied any connection between her post and the war
- She said: “I am heartbroken…I pray and stand for peace.”
Alicia Keys was at the center of controversy Monday after an anti-Semitism advocacy group criticized a social media post she made, saying she was using encrypted messages to signal her support for Hamas in its war with Israel.
The 42-year-old singer first posted a photo on Instagram of herself wearing a green leather racing jacket with black and white accents, in colors that some said were reminiscent of black, white, green and red , which can be seen on the flag of Palestine.
The Manhattan native, whose real name is Alicia Augello Cook, captioned the post: “Question: What would you do if you weren’t afraid of anything???” “Tell me your truth… I have my eye on paragliding ” he added two pairs of eye emojis.
The Girl on Fire singer, who has more than 27.1 million followers on the social media platform, later deleted the post.
The Empire State of Mind singer’s post caught the attention of advocacy group StopAntisemitism, which questioned whether Keys was making a subtle reference to the paragliders used by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war.
The Latest: Alicia Keys, 42, found herself at the unlikely center of controversy on Monday after an anti-Semitism advocacy group criticized a social media post she made, saying she was using encrypted messages to show her support for Hamas in the war with Signaling Israel The Grammy-winning artist responded to the controversy in an Instagram Stories post on Monday night, denying any connection between the paragliding post and comments on current events
“In a now-deleted tweet, Alicia Keys shares an IG post about how she would try paragliding if she wasn’t afraid,” reads a tweet from StopAntisemitism. “Is this a sick ode to the Hamas terrorists who infiltrated Israel, killed over 1,300 people, beheaded babies, raped women and kidnapped Holocaust survivors @aliciakeys?”
The Grammy-winning artist responded to the controversy in an Instagram Stories post Monday night, denying any connection between the paragliding post and comments about current events.
“The post I previously shared had COMPLETELY nothing to do with the recent devastating loss of innocent lives,” she said. “My heart is broken…I pray and stand for peace.”
Famous music manager Guy Oseary, who was born in Israel, defended the Fallin’ singer’s character on Instagram.
“There is talk of an anti-Semitic post that my dear friend Alicia Keys posted on her Instagram,” Oseary wrote. “I can confirm that to everyone in my life [Star of David emoji] Community that needs to hear it: It is NOT true.’
Regarding the use of the word paragliding, he continued: “There was a particular word in your post that our community found very triggering during this very painful time, but it had absolutely no connection to it.”
Oseary added: “I spoke to Alicia and she was horrified when she learned what the word meant and picked it up straight away.” Alicia has always been a fighter for all human rights.
“I have had a front row seat to her positive impact on the world for over a decade.” “Her humanitarian work reflects her compassion and heart.”
The advocacy group StopAntisemitism asked whether Keys was making a subtle reference to the paragliders used by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war. Hamas was seen training with paragliders in the weeks before the attack. Famous music manager Guy Oseary, who was born in Israel, defended the Fallin’ singer’s character on Instagram. Several of Oseary’s followers expressed skepticism that Keys’ first post was not cryptic. In response to StopAntisemitism’s post, some users believed that Keys had intended the combination of words and images in her first post to signal her support for the anti-Israel effort . Some said that the colors of the jacket Keys wore were intended to resemble those of the Palestine flag. Last week a protester was seen holding the flag in Rome. Some users said the advocacy group was reaching out in its suggestion that Keys was subtly signaling support for the Hamas attacks on Israel that began on Oct. 7
Podcaster Sara Foster expressed skepticism about Oseary’s defense of Keys, writing, “Crazy. What a coincidence.”
Comedian Elon Gold responded to Oseary: “She has to prove it herself.” She has to speak out against Hamas after seemingly winking at it. I’m sure her heart is good. But she cannot remain silent after this massacre, this mass rape and the beheadings of babies…”
Podcaster Jordana Horn Gordon responded to Oseary that Keys “should put out a post correcting the original post,” adding, “It came across very, very differently than what you’re saying.”
Horn Gordon added: “Respectfully: In the age of screenshots, simply deleting them is no excuse, nor does it mean having a Jewish friend appear on your behalf.”
In response to StopAntisemitism’s post, some users believed that Keys wanted to signal her support for anti-Israel efforts with the combination of words and images in her initial post.
One user said: “The… the colors of their jackets.” Too many coincidences to be a coincidence.
Another said: “Look at the colors she’s wearing, the reference to paragliding, even with the eyeball emoji… she knew EXACTLY what she was doing.”
One user said of her outfit: I see people saying this is over the top, let Alicia be the one to respond. But this account @StopAntisemites pointed out her outfit. After all, colors have meaning [Thursday] I wore blue and white for a reason. Sometimes people choose outfits to send [subtle] Announcements. Let’s wait.’
Palestinians were seen bringing a captured Israeli hostage into the Gaza Strip on October 7. An Israeli soldier was seen walking among the rubble of a kibbutz in Israel last week following the Hamas attack. Supporters of Palestine gathered at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday. More than 30 people were arrested after a protest in front of the White House on Monday. On Monday, protesters were seen outside the BBC headquarters in London, expressing their anger at the broadcaster’s stance not to describe Hamas as a terrorist organization in its coverage
Other users said the advocacy group went far-reaching in its claim that Keys subtly signaled his support for the Hamas attacks on Israel that began on October 7.
“Take this, there’s nothing wrong with using the word paragliding,” one user said, while another said that while they supported StopAntisemitism and its efforts, “that goes a little too far.”
Another user pointed out the undisclosed geographical elements, noting that Keys’ home in Southern California borders the Torrey Pines Gliderport, a center for recreational paragliding.
“To be fair, her house in San Diego is by the glider airfield in La Jolla (that’s public knowledge) and she sees the gliders every day,” the user said. “Maybe she doesn’t mean Hamas.”
Keys’ post came on the 10th day of the conflict between Hamas and Israel, in which more than 4,000 people died and more than a million people fled their homes in the Gaza Strip.