Israel-Hamas war: Alicia Keys issues statement after backlash over paragliding Instagram post

The ‘Empire State of Mind’ singer said on Instagram that the one thing she would do if she ‘wasn’t afraid of anything’ would be paragliding

Alicia Keys has clarified that an Instagram post she shared that referred to paragliding was “completely unrelated” to the Israel-Hamas war.

The “If I Ain’t Got You” singer shared a post on Monday (16 October), in which she posed wearing a black and green leather motorsports-style jacket.

She wrote in the caption of the now-deleted post: “What would you do if u weren’t afraid of anything??? Tell me your truth…”

Keys, 42, then added: “I’ve had my eyes on paragliding…”

Social media users quickly informed the singer that the post could be considered insensitive given the context of the Israel-Hamas war.

On Saturday (7 October), the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its largest-ever attack on Israel, which killed more than 1,000 people.

Paragliders were used by Hamas during their deadly attack.

An organisation named Stop Antisemitism called out Keys in a post on X/Twitter, asking if her mentioning of paragliding was a “sick ode” to the Hamas terrorists.

Keys – full name Alicia Augello Cook – deleted the post and shared a short statement to her Instagram Story late on Monday night, telling her followers that the mention of “paragliding” was totally unrelated to the conflict.

“The post I shared earlier was COMPLETELY unrelated in any way to the recent devastating loss of innocent lives,” she wrote.

Alicia Keys told her followers that her mention of paragliding was ‘unrelated’ to the ‘devastating loss of innocent lives’ (Instagram via @aliciakeys)

“My heart has been breaking….I pray for and stand for peace,” she concluded.

The Independent has contacted Keys’s representatives for further comment.

Israeli-American talent manager Guy Oseary – who has worked with Madonna, U2 and Red Hot Chili Peppers – stepped in to show support for the singer in an Instagram post responding to the backlash.

Oseary told his followers that Keys was “horrified” when she learnt what the word implied and immediately took the post down.

“There’s talk of an antisemitic post that my dear friend Alicia Keys had up on her Instagram,” Oseary began.

“I can confirm to anyone in my community that needs to hear it: it’s NOT true. There was a specific word in her post that our community at this very painful time find very triggering, but it was absolutely not connected in any way.”

He added: “I spoke to Alicia and she was horrified to learn what the word implied and immediately took it down. Alicia has always been a fighter for all human rights. I’ve had a front-row seat for over a decade of seeing her positive influence in the world. Her humanitarian work reflects her empathy and her heart.

On Saturday, the Metropolitan Police launched an appeal to find two women who were seen wearing images of paragliders at a pro-Palestine march in London.