Not Your Reality TV Villains
Middle Eastern women on reality TV, online hate, plus a call for action in D.C.
Sigh, hi friends.
The U.S. just carried out a drone strike in Iran that’s illegal under international law. And it puts all of us at risk, including Iranians in the diaspora and U.S. citizens who’ll bear the consequences.
This post from Slow Factory breaks it down: the legal frameworks the U.S. is violating, and why this escalation is dangerous for everyone, not just people in the region. I highly recommend reading the whole thing.
In pop culture news this week: Leah Kateb speaks out for Iran, a new Palestinian anthem goes viral, and Huda’s still getting torn apart on Love Island. The final article, “3 Snack Brands to Boycott and What to Eat Instead,” is available exclusively to paid subscribers. If you want to read it and access more exclusive content, you can sign up here.
In This Issue:
Song I Can’t Get Enough Of: “Toz”
Leah Kateb Sends Love to the the Iranian People
Huda, Love Island, and the Politics of “Too Much”
Take Action: National March on Washington June 28
3 Snack Brands to Boycott and What to Eat Instead (Paid Subscribers)
Song I Can’t Get Enough Of: “Toz”
If you’ve ever needed a one-word response to pressure, projections, or propaganda: “Toz.” Palestinian influencer turned rapper Wessam Qutob is turning a classic Arabic slang term into a global anthem.
“Toz” is kind of like “DGAF.” It means “not important,” “I don’t care,” “this doesn’t phase me,” “f*** off,” etc. It’s the energy of being unbothered in the face of bullshit.
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There’s even a story (possibly true) that the word comes from the Turkish word for salt, tuz, and how Ottoman tax inspectors used to wave through salt traders like: “Tuz, tuz,” not worth taxing/stressing.
In a time when Palestinian identity is politicized, Wessam’s success is a big “toz” to the systems trying to silence him. Stream the song and learn the word!
Leah Kateb Sends Love to the the Iranian People
Leah Kateb recently spoke out about the ICE raids and Palestine. But what a lot of people don’t know is that Leah’s been speaking about the Middle East and her own experiences for years.
Her parents immigrated to the U.S. from Iran in their 20s, and Leah’s always talked about how that shaped her and makes her feel proud.
Leah also opened up about what it was like growing up Middle Eastern in a predominantly white school last summer, when someone claiming to know Leah in high school took to social media to say: “People finally realizing how mean you are just like how you were a mean bully in high school. Not a girls girl.”
Leah clapped back, talking about how she was actually bullied, isolated, and left eating lunch alone in the library while classmates made “jokes” about terrorism and immigration, knowing her family was from Iran.
She also spoke about the impossible standard Middle Eastern women are held to: “The second a Middle Eastern woman stands up for herself, she’s a scary angry bully, but when a white woman does it, she’s ‘popping her sht, yaaas queen.’ Spare me.”
Recently, Leah has been posting in solidarity with Iranians as Israeli and U.S. aggression toward Iran ramps up.
She recently shared a longer quote which included, “At the heart of our homeland, war rages on fueled by power-hungry strangers playing God behind high-security walls, while millions flee with no safety, no shelter, and no sense of what comes next.”
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I appreciate Leah for using her platform to speak about what’s happening within our borders and beyond. Who else will speak up?
Huda, Love Island, and the Politics of “Too Much”
Last week, my last newsletter post referencing Huda started circulating among her haters on Twitter/X. In it, I questioned whether some of the hate towards her had anything to do with her being Palestinian (consciously or not). One of the comments that was repeated was, “No one even knows she’s Palestinian…I thought she was Latina.” (Mind you, she says she’s Middle Eastern in the first episode).
But whether or not you remember she’s Middle Eastern or know she’s Palestinian specifically, zionists do. And there is a long, well-established history of zionists twisting pop culture moments into anti-Palestinian narratives.
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I came into this season genuinely excited to see Huda on screen. She’s the first Palestinian woman to appear on the show. Was the Jeremiah fallout dramatic? Absolutely. But she’s 24, on reality TV, surrounded by cameras, and clearly being pushed to the edge. If I were in that situation at that age, I probably would have snapped too.
Former Love Island contestant Daniela Ortiz recently spoke out about what it’s actually like to be on the show. She said producers deliberately isolate you, provoke you, and push you until you're exhausted and emotional just to manufacture drama. It’s hard to watch Huda being painted as the villain, knowing that system is in place.
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Meanwhile, Jeremiah, the guy she “crashed out” over, has had two women come forward offscreen. One said he love-bombed her just like he did Huda.
And Amiah Brooks from Temptation Island said Jeremiah ghosted her to go on the show.
And still, Huda haters are yelling “Save Jeremiah!” and putting all the blame on Huda.
Middle Eastern women are constantly framed as aggressive, unstable, mean girls. Again, Leah Kateb said it perfectly: “The second a Middle Eastern woman stands up for herself, she’s a scary, angry bully. But when a white woman does, she’s ‘popping her shit, yaaas queen.’”
I’m not saying there aren’t valid critiques of Huda’s behavior. But especially after hearing Daniela’s story, it’s hard to unsee the setup. Huda’s “crashout” is the reality TV system working exactly as designed.
Take Action: National March on Washington June 28
Stop the war on Iran. Stop funding genocide. Those are the demands for this weekend’s March on Washington at Lafayette Park in D.C.
🗓 Saturday, June 28
📍Lafayette Park, Washington D.C.
🕐 1 PM
Click here for more information including bus info! If you’re not able to attend, share the flyer, organize locally, and donate to travel funds.
Thank You
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In Solidarity,
illesha magdalena
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