I am a firm believer in the freedom of speech and the right to stand against injustice. This belief is why I am deeply concerned about the potential ban of Huda Beauty from Sephora for speaking out against the genocide in Gaza. Criticizing Israel isn’t anti-semitic. Anti-zionism is NOT anti-semitism.

Huda Kattan, is an Iraqi-American makeup artist, beauty blogger, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Huda Beauty.Huda has used her platform to raise awareness about human rights violations and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians happening in Gaza. There are calls for her brand's removal from Sephora because she dared to speak up.

The Israeli occupation has been terrorizing native Palestinians for over 75 years now. It striped them of their lands, homes, and basic human rights. As it expanded it’s illegal settlements, it built walls to prevent Palestinians from moving around freely in their own land. It constantly destroys crops, demolishes homes, imprison innocent men, women, and children as young as 5 years old. Furthermore, the Israeli occupation has been carpet bombing Gaza (a small strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea in the occupied Palestine) since October 7th along with cutting off water, food, fuel, electricity, internet, and all forms of communication, for the purpose of ethnically cleansing Palestine from it’s native people. The Israeli occupation has been bombing schools, hospitals, churches, mosques, ambulances, refugee camps and innocent civilians homes. This is not the first time that the Israeli occupation commits such heinous crimes against Palestinians, this has been going on since 1948.

People should not be retaliated against for calling out governments and politicians for their war crimes and crimes against humanity. Individuals and organizations should not be punished for holding governments and politicians accountable for their crimes against any group of people. This sets the ground for mass oppression against our rights, as humans, to speak up and make our voices heard when governments fail humanity.

We must not allow this silencing tactic to prevail; it sets a dangerous precedent where brands and individuals can be punished for taking ethical stances on global issues. Let us remind Sephora of its commitment towards diversity and inclusivity by allowing diverse opinions within its brand community.

Sephora is a global leader in beauty retail with a commitment towards diversity and inclusivity as stated on their website. Banning Huda Beauty would contradict these values by suppressing voices that speak out against injustice.

Please sign this petition urging Sephora not to ban Huda Beauty for standing up against human rights violations and war crimes in Gaza.