- Zaid Ahmat Shaat, 30, was confronted by a man outside Gold’s Gym in Venice on Wednesday afternoon after crumpling up a poster and throwing it in the trash.
- “I’m proud of myself, go away,” said Shaat as he entered the gym founded by famous Jewish bodybuilder Joe Gold, the ‘father of bodybuilding’.
- Shaat’s social media has since been made private and his website now links to the Anti-Defamation League, the world’s leading anti-hate organization
A ‘fitness model’ was caught on video tearing down posters of young children kidnapped by Hamas in front of the Jewish-founded Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach.
Zaid Ahmat Shaat, 30, was confronted by a man outside Gold’s Gym in Venice on Wednesday afternoon after crumpling up a poster and throwing it in the trash.
Wearing a tight tank top and small shorts with pink words written on the back, Shaat said ‘Go away’ as she quickly walked away from the man filming, who only questioned why he was tearing down the ads.
‘If you’re so proud of yourself, why are you tearing it down?’ asked the man shooting the film.
‘Yes – I’m proud of myself – go away,’ replied Shaat as he walked into the gym founded by famous Jewish bodybuilder Joe Gold, known as ‘the father of bodybuilding and the fitness craze’.
Shaat, from Culver City, California, describes herself as a ‘natural lifelong athlete’ in her Instagram bio, which she has since made private.
The website zaidshaatfitness.com now links to the Anti-Defamation League, the world’s leading anti-hate organisation. It is currently unclear when or why this changed.
Shaat has previously described himself on his website as someone who loves ‘motivating people to live a healthy lifestyle’.
‘I’m passionate about helping people achieve their goals and dreams,’ he wrote.
He also has a fitness app, which he describes as ‘a channel designed to help you achieve your goals’.
Many people took to social media to call him out.
StopAntisemitism, which spread the video, shared on X: “Zaid is ‘passionate about helping people’ – unless you’re a Jew smuggled into Gaza by terrorists.”
Gold’s Gym told Dailymail.com they were aware of the incident but could not comment at this time.
Earlier this week, three New York City vandals caught tearing down posters of Israeli child hostages were identified as a French financier, a Brooklyn magician and his teacher-wife.
The trio were caught in separate incidents this weekend tearing down posters of missing children taken hostage by Hamas on October 7.
They are among a larger group of pro-Palestinian activists who have taken it upon themselves to take down the posters in New York and other western cities.
DailyMail.com identified these people as 45-year-old financier Marc Louvet, who worked at investment firm VanEck until the video emerged this weekend, and Kelly and Noah Schaffer, a couple living in Brooklyn.
Louvet was spotted confronting his Middle Eastern girlfriend after taking down the posters on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, where he owns a $1.7 million apartment.
They join a growing list of student and pro-Palestinian protesters who have been filmed holding up posters of Jewish hostages in the city.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams has been steadfast in his support of the Jewish community since the beginning of the conflict.
There have been a number of large, pro-Palestinian protests in New York since violence erupted in the Middle East, but none have become particularly violent or unruly.
Among the demonstrations this weekend was one attended by non-binary And Just Like That star Sara Ramirez, who waved a transgender flag in protest despite Palestine and Hamas following sharia law, which makes homosexuality illegal.
