When you travel to a new country you should be aware of cultural differences.

But you’re lying if you think there’s not a chance you might slip up just once…

Like how in Japan, blowing your nose in public is considered a major faux pas, in West Africa putting your thumbs up can have negative connotations and in Sri Lanka you shouldn’t point your feet towards an elder….

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American Palestinian model Bella Hadid riled Saudi and UAE Twitter with this photo posted to her ‘gram stories

That’s a Saudi and Emirati plane in the background and in the foreground is her boot. You could be mistaken for thinking her boot is pointing towards the three planes, an act which is considered offensive in the region, but to me looks like a simple gaffe.

The majority on Twitter have a different opinion

#BellaHadidIsRacist is trending with people threatening to boycott Dior, a brand Hadid is linked with.

People are binning Dior for their cause

And calling on brands to stop working with her

Dubbing the gaffe a ‘fatal error’

The criticism is real – and there are plenty more tweets like this one

She issued a heart-felt apology to Instagram and another to Twitter

Was Bella Hadid throwing sly shade towards the Middle East? I reckon no

Glam-azon Bella Hadid committed a cultural no-no by pointing her shoe in the direction of UAE and Saudi planes. Pointing your foot/shoe IS considered offensive, but to me this simply looks like a weary traveller updating her followers that’s she’s embarking on, yet another flight.

Bella Hadid is not a blow-in to the region. She’s a proud Palestinian, (on her dad’s side) and she’s vocal about her political thoughts, tweeting #FreePalestine and #IStandWithPalestine on a number of occasions. In her apology she mentioned she would never choose to spread hate and negativity, that she didn’t notice the planes and her post had nothing to do with politics.

This world has too much real sadness for this to be Twitter’s biggest story of the day…

#SpreadLoveNotHate